An agreement was formalized yesterday at the Brighton and Hove Museum between the British museum institution and the Mont’e Prama Foundation for the return of 132 archaeological artifacts from the necropolis of Tharros, which will become part of the collections of the Cabras Civic Museum. Authorized by the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the agreement represents a moment of great significance in the protection and recovery of Sardinia’s archaeological heritage.
The artifacts, of extraordinary historical value, had been brought to the United Kingdom in the mid-nineteenth century and later donated to the Brighton museum by Lord James White, a member of the British Parliament, between 1861 and 1874, a period when the institution was based in the Royal Pavilions. White had acquired them during his travels to Sardinia.
On the occasion of the formalization, the Italian delegation was led by Anthony Muroni, president of the Mont’e Prama Foundation, flanked by officials from the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Metropolitan City of Cagliari and the provinces of Oristano and South Sardinia, Maura Vargiu and Georgia Toreno. The Superintendency is in charge of the entire process related to the transportation, delivery and entry of the finds into Italy, under the authorization of the Ministry’s Directorate General. On the British side, the agreement was signed by Dan Robertson, curator of the Local History and Archaeology section of the Brighton Museum, and his predecessor Andy Maxted.
Crucial proved to be the contribution of lawyer Ugo Tanda, son of Sardinian philologist Nicola Tanda, who together with Maxted initiated the restitution process in collaboration with the Mont’e Prama Foundation.
“The Foundation contributes, with its international relations activities with other actors in the management and enhancement of cultural heritage, to open a path for the return to the island of important pieces of archaeological heritage, which over the centuries have been taken away from Sardinia. It does so by following an institutional path, in the spirit of the mandate given by the founders Ministry of Culture, Region of Sardinia and Municipality of Cabras,” said President Anthony Muroni.
“Our presence in Brighton is part of the task entrusted to us by the Ministry’s directorate general to ascertain the authenticity of the artifacts,” said Maura Vargiu. “The preliminary work has been completed for the part that concerns the examination of the materials, which is necessarily to be carried out in the Brighton museum, now we are left with the part of study and verification of the acquired data.”
“Finally, after many years, we have almost reached the time to return these objects to Cabras. It is an exciting time for all parties involved,” commented Dan Robertson. “We are overjoyed to be able to bring them home. They have been in Brighton for more than a century, but today it would be difficult to show them again. So to return them to their country of origin is something extraordinary.”
Lawyer Ugo Tanda recalled the origin of the project, “The now former curator Andy Maxted told me that about 10-15 years ago he discovered in storage an extraordinary collection of objects from Tharros, but we could not find the key to be able to think about and then finalize a possible return agreement. The meeting with President Muroni turned out to be fortunate: in a year and a half we arrived at an extraordinary result for our Island.”
The artifacts should arrive in Cabras by November. After the necessary restoration and cleaning, they will be displayed in a temporary exhibition in the Marongiu Museum in spring 2026.
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| 132 Tharros artifacts kept since the 1800s in the UK will return to Sardinia: agreement signed in Brighton |
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