Mexico recovers three archaeological pieces in Germany

The Mexican government has recovered and repatriated three archaeological pieces that were in Germany, the Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs reported Thursday.

Credit: Culture Ministry, Mexico

The pieces were manufactured at different times and by different Mesoamerican cultures, determined an analysis of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), which did not specify the economic value or the destination of the objects, as indicated by the ministries in a joint bulletin .

The oldest, said the statement, is a 20 cm tall clay urn with an anthropomorphic face of Zapotec origin “in good condition” manufactured in the region of the current southern state of Oaxaca. The piece dates from the Early Classic Period (200-500AD).

The second object is 33 cm tall anthropomorphic clay figure of the Late Classic Period (500-900 AD) from Mixtequilla on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Veracruz

Credit: Culture Ministry, Mexico

The third object is an anthropomorphic clay figure that presumably belongs to the area of ​​the southeastern state of Campeche, but its origin and authenticity are yet to be confirmed.

The Pre-Hispanic artefacts belonged to a woman identified as Brigitte K. by the Mexican Embassy in Germany, who received them last month.

“Thanks to the efforts of the Mexican Embassy in Germany, the pieces were voluntarily delivered without the need to bring legal action,” the Mexican government agencies said in the statement.

Credit: Culture Ministry, Mexico

The Mexican Government also reaffirmed its commitment to recover cultural heritage abroad. However, in other cases the management of the Mexican authorities has not been successful.

But last September, the Mexican government could not stop an auction in France that exceeded 1.2 million euros of pieces that it considered “Mexican cultural heritage.”

The survey of the pieces in the catalog determined that 95 objects came from Teotihuacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca and various states in southeastern Mexico, region of Olmec and Mayan culture, according to the Mexican ambassador in Paris, Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo.

Source: EN24 [January 16, 2020]



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