Many of the 650 items found in the tomb near Ancona on Italy's eastern coast came from the Middle East, North African and Greece, the Italian news agency ANSA said Thursday.

''This discovery fills in a big gap in our knowledge and helps define the role this area played in past centuries,'' archeologist Giuliano de Marinis told the news service.

He said the artifacts in the tomb demonstrate a network that linked Italy to modern-day Egypt, Rhodes, mainland Greece, Anatola and Palestinian territories.