Indiana Berlusconi and the Escort of Doom

The audiotape of Italian Prime Minister talking with a professional escort who alleges he paid her for sex are embarrassing enough. But now it appears Berlusconi may have committed an archaeological crime:

In one of the transcripts of his purported conversations with Patrizia D'Addario posted on an Italian website, Berlusconi boasts to her about his sprawling villa in Sardinia -- complete with an ice cream parlor and artificial lakes.

"Here we found 30 Phoenician tombs from (around) 300 BC," the voice is heard to say.

The latest audio clip was posted on the website of L'Espresso weekly on Thursday and immediately raised the interest of the opposition and the archaeological community.

Under Italian law archaeological discoveries made on private property must be reported to authorities for inspection, cataloguing and possible excavation.

Archaeologists say that if Berlusconi's boasts are true, he may have stumbled onto a major find.