According to the museum organization Icom, there is a significant risk that it may involve illegal objects, writes Magasin K.
The provenance is in several cases incomplete. There is no possibility of determining whether these objects have entered the market legally or not, says Nils Harnesk, board member of Swedish Icom and head of the collection department at Norrbotten Museum, to the newspaper.
The National Heritage Board also notes that it concerns so-called high-risk objects, which means they may be illegal.
The auction house claims, however, that they have received approval for the sale from the National Heritage Board, but according to Peg Magnusson, case officer at the authority, this is not true.
The National Heritage Board does not approve objects to be auctioned off, it is not our role. We provide general advice on the trade of archaeological objects, she says to Magasin K.
She confirms that the National Heritage Board has had discussions with the auction house about objects that were auctioned off over the weekend. But it only concerned four of the total 26 objects.
