Chronicle (1966)

The Tomb Robbers (1968x7)

: 11, 1968

Between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C. the rich Etruscans of Vulci, a town seventy miles north of Rome, were buried with their possessions - including precious metals and jewellery - in thousands of rock-cut tombs. These graves attracted the attention of tomb robbers from the period of the Roman Empire, and raiding of tombs in the Vulci area has gone on sporadically ever since. In the last few years it has turned almost into a large-scale business - and these underground riches are the subject of a complicated struggle between robbers, policemen, international middle-men, and archaeologists. This film follows the activities of two young Italian labourers who defy strict police vigilance and the risk of jail sentences by living off the proceeds from what they dig out of tombs.