A total of 69 Cypriot artefacts which were in the possession of a private citizen in Austria are to be returned to Cyprus, it was announced on Saturday.

The artefacts were handed over to Cyprus’ Deputy Culture Minister Vasiliki Kassianidou in a formal ceremony at the country’s embassy in Vienna. The private citizen, who remains unnamed, had inherited the artefacts, and then “immediately contacted the Cypriot authorities in Austria”.

Studies confirmed that the artefacts had been “illegally exported” from the island, and as such, the man decided to return them to the Cypriot authorities.

The artefacts date from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period, and consist mostly of ceramic vessels, fragments of stone and clay figurines, glass perfume containers, a fork made out of bone, and a tobacco pipe.

The antiquities department thanked the private citizen for informing the authorities and for handing the items over, and also issued its “warmest thanks” to Cyprus’ embassy in Vienna, describing the embassy’s contribution to the artefacts’ return as “decisive”.