Thievery! Indian bowls, bottles taken from locked room at Southern Arkansas University

An invaluable collection of intact bowls and bottles crafted centuries ago by Caddo Indians has been stolen from a storeroom at Southern Arkansas University, where they were awaiting return to members of the tribe.

Whoever took the artifacts, bearing intricate designs characteristic of the Caddo, will probably be able to dispose of them quickly on the antiquities black market, said David Jeane, a research archaeologist at the university.

“The Caddo were probably some of the finest ceramists of any of the North American Indians,” Jeane said. “Their pots are considered high art and they will go rapidly on the market.”