A huge haul of antiquities found in Basel, Switzerland, in 2001 is to be returned to Italy.

The items, taken from archeological sites in the eastern Italian region of Apulia and in northern Italy, were found in the possession of a married couple who are Basel-based art dealers.

Swiss police seized them based on a tip from Italy, which conducted an 18-month investigation into antiquities smuggling.

"This is a vast haul on a dramatic scale that would have saturated the market if they had been sold," said Guido Lassau, a Swiss archeologist who worked on the case.

The 4,400 ancient artifacts include Greek-style vases and kraters, large vessels used for mixing wine, and a ceramic mask modelled on a woman's face. The oldest artifact is a bronze knife believed to be 4,000 years old.

"They're very well preserved because they spent the last 2,000 years in a virtual time capsule until they were plundered by grave robbers," Lassau said. "But the tragic thing is that a lot of the archeological information was lost when they were removed."

They were stolen from upper-class tombs dating from the fifth to third centuries and smuggled to Switzerland because of lax laws that made it a major hub for dealing in stolen antiquities. Switzerland has since changed its legal regime and the smuggling trade has largely moved into Germany.

Italy has waged a seven-year legal battle over the artifacts with the art-dealing couple, and won in Swiss courts.

Husband charged in Italy

The couple also faces charges.

The woman could face prosecution in Switzerland for handling stolen goods, said Markus Melzl, a spokesman for Swiss prosecutors.

Her husband has been charged in Italy with exporting cultural antiquities illegally, handling stolen goods and belonging to a criminal organization, Melzl said.

Switzerland has privacy laws that prohibit the naming of people charged but not tried.

Melzl was reluctant to set a value on the artifacts, saying that would be like trying to put a price on the Mona Lisa.

Swiss authorities are trying to determine the origins of an additional 1,400 artifacts seized.

With files from the Associated Press