US and Peru Extend Agreement: recovered artefacts returned

Submitted by coldrum on Monday, 25 June 2007 Page Views: 1225

Country: Peru The US and Peru extended for an additional five years the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) restricting pre-Columbian archaeological material / ethnological colonial material from importation into the US without Peruvian export permits. Separately the US has handed over more than 400 Incan and pre-Columbian artefacts to the government of Peru. The artefacts had been stolen from South America by grave robbers and came into the US via the black market.

Both countries originally entered into this agreement on June 9, 1997, and this is its second extension. The MOU underscores U.S. appreciation of the artistic and technical accomplishments of the peoples of ancient Peru, among the world's most advanced civilizations. The cultural resources protected under this MOU are non-renewable and important both to Peruvians and to cross-cultural understanding and appreciation throughout the hemisphere.

The import restrictions encompassed by the MOU cover the material culture of the Chavín, Chimú, Paracas, Moche, Inca, and others inhabiting what is now Peru from c.12,000 B.C. to 1532 A.D. The restrictions also protect certain ethnological material from the colonial period, 1532-1821 A.D. United States enforcement of these restrictions has resulted in the seizure and repatriation of many hundreds of Peru's cultural treasures over the past decade, including a group of some 400 objects returned to Peruvian authorities on June 13, 2007.
Referred to as the "Designated List," this document, as well as the newly amended MOU, and other information may be found at these State Department
links.
Important Arrest and Recovery. An Italian man was arrested two years ago for bringing the artefacts into the United States. After serving 17 months in a federal prison, he is now due to be deported.
The items, which are believed to be worth millions of dollars, had been stolen from several Andean nations. They include a cape made from macaw and parrot feathers, gold and silver jewellery and a clay vessel believed to be more than 3,500 years old.
The Peruvian consul general in Miami, Jorge Roman, described some of the most important items.
"The pieces of greatest historical value were perhaps the two quipus. The ancient civilisations of Peru used these cords as an accounting system - to keep a record of the size of their harvests, of their potato crops, perhaps of the number of men and women in a town."
Mr Roman says that as well as returning the artefacts to their countries of origin, this move sends an important message to other tomb raiders and archaeological thieves that there is an international agreement in place to tackle their crimes.
For more, see BBC News.

Note: Information on International Agreement that thwarts Illict Marketing of Ancient Artefacts.

Contributor Bio for coldrum: Based in Milkyway, contributing since 2002. Favourite site: Avebury.

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