Mexican embassies and consulates recover 279 archaeological artifacts

Mexican embassies and consulates recover 279 archaeological artifacts

• The collection includes bone fragments, jade objects and ceramic pieces from various cultures and time periods
• The heritage items were returned from Argentina, Canada, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as by several consulates in the United States

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), through its Legal Department, has returned 279 cultural artifacts to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The items were recovered by Mexican embassies in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as by consulates in Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nogales, Oxnard, Seattle and Tucson in the United States.

According to INAH assessments, the artifacts are part of Mexico's national cultural heritage, protected under the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic, and Historical Monuments and Sites.

The restitution of these cultural objects is the result of collaboration between Mexican authorities and the country's diplomatic missions abroad, which have successfully recovered heritage items that were in private hands through various channels, including local law enforcement actions, seizures, halting auctions, or negotiations with academic institutions and museums. Following outreach from the Mexican government, these organizations have agreed to return objects that were part of their collections.

Notable among the repatriated items are bone fragments of an infant dating from 800 to 500 BCE from Montreal, a tripod mortar from between 2500 BCE and 1521 CE from Germany, a carved jade mask from the Mesoamerican Classic period from Los Angeles, a clay pot created in the Western Mesoamerican cultural area between 200 and 800 CE from Las Vegas, a bifacial knife from the Mexican Central Highlands from Tucson, and 19 archaeological pieces from various periods and regions of present-day Mexico, dating from 1200 to 1521 CE from the United Kingdom.