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Dr Munro sent more than 2,000 artefacts, materials and samples of human remains back to the university and the National Museum of Scotland.

"The police and the Honda garage all said this was one of the best clone jobs they'd ever seen, so if it wasn't for these little artefacts, no one would have ever known."

Last September the UN's world heritage organisation, Unesco, warned of a "threat to culture" and urged art dealers not to import or export artefacts smuggled out of Sudan.

A gang of thieves from London who stole ancient artefacts from a Swiss museum have been jailed for plotting to kill a cage fighter at his luxury home.

The discovery of the site, dating to the 6th or 7th Century, was announced last year, with dozens of skeletons found lying in unusual positions with unexpected artefacts.