ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Indiana Jones, eat your heart out. Auto theft detectives from the Albuquerque Police Department unearthed a 1,000-year-old pot in a motor home.
"All of the guys have been joking around calling me Indy," said Det. Tim Fassler. "When I saw it I knew it was old. I didn't know it was going to be that old."
On May 30, a police were responding to several complaints about a motor home parked in front of Autobahn Automotive in the 2700 block of Second NW. Parked nearby was a stolen motorcycle.
As police were investigating, Thomas Fenzl came out of the business and rolled the bike into the yard.
Auto theft detectives searched the property, where they found what appeared to be a "driver's license forgery operation." Fenzl was arrested on theft and forgery charges.
When police searched the motor home, they found a clay pot in an overhead cabinet. Part of the pot was missing. What remained was glued together.
"It was really out of place," Fassler said. "We thought it was something, but we just didn't know."
So detectives took the pot to the University of New Mexico, where anthropologists determined it was more than 1,000 years old. They were unable to determine its origins, but suspect that it came from a pueblo in the Four Corners area.
On Monday, APD presented the pot to the Albuquerque Museum, where it will remain while anthropologists try to determine its origins.
Museum officials said they believe it was originally used to store items or food.
Police suspect someone may have tried to trade it for drugs.