Episode 47 - Giacomo Medici's Antiquities Smuggling Ring and Archaeology News

The episode begins with the gripping tale of Giacomo Medici, one of history’s most infamous antiquities traffickers. Known as the kingpin of looted artifacts, Medici masterminded a vast smuggling network involving tomb raiders, Swiss Freeport warehouses, and high-profile museums. Host Jason Cohen unravels how these looted treasures, like the famed Euphronios Krater, were laundered through polished auction houses and ended up in major institutions such as the Met. Despite his attempts to escape justice, Medici's empire came crashing down, leading to the return of hundreds of artifacts to their rightful home. It's a story of greed, intrigue, and the long road to justice.

Next, we take a wild detour to Herculaneum, where a young man caught in Mount Vesuvius' eruption provides one of the most bizarre archaeological discoveries. His brain appears to have been "vitrified," essentially turned into glass by a combination of superheated ash and rapid cooling. The podcast dives into the highly specific conditions required to create this one-in-a-billion phenomenon and the debate it sparked among scientists.

Finally, Jason explores a potential contender for the world’s oldest 3D map. Deep within a cave in France, researchers identified carvings and features that resemble a topographical map of the surrounding area, complete with rivers and valleys. The theory is that this Paleolithic creation, dating at least 12,000 years, might have served practical purposes like hunting coordination or even ritualistic meanings tied to fertility and life.

Timestamps 

00:14: Unveiling Giacomo Medici: The Antiquities Trafficker

06:12: The Downfall of a Trafficking Kingpin

10:14: Ripple Effects: Justice and Repatriation of Artifacts

12:29: Brains of GLASS? An vitrified brain in ancient Herculaneum

17:39: Ladyparts in an ancient cave help to form the world's oldest 3D map? 

Links & Resources 

• Unique formation of organic glass from a human brain in the Vesuvius eruption of 79 CE: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-88894-5
• Palaeolithic Map Engraved For Staging Water Flows In A Paris Basin Shelter: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ojoa.12316 

Related Episodes 

• Archaeology News: Mysteriously Preserved Human Brains Unearthed - A New Archaeological Discovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjpdbQ4kkzI
• The Oldest European Map Discovery: Story Of Saint Belec Slab - Bronze Age 3D Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUu5YmHFGaQ

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