Mexico recovers 43 archaeological artefacts from Italy
Published: 03:03 PM,Mar 28,2023 | EDITED : 07:03 PM,Mar 28,2023
Mexico has recovered 43 pre-Columbian archaeological artefacts that were returned voluntarily by Italy, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
The artefacts arrived in Mexico City on Monday on an Aeromexico flight from Rome, the Mexican government said.
The items, which belonged to various pre-Columbian groups and mostly date back to the third to seventh century AD, had been recovered by Italian police following a number of investigations, the Carabinieri police said on Monday.
They were handed over to Mexican Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto in Rome on Friday.
“Today, the friendship between Mexico and Italy is crowned with anextraordinary act of generosity, 43 pieces of Mexican history begin the return to their origin, 43 fragments of ancient cultures that are the essence of the greatness of our country,” Frausto said.
The minister also said that over the last four years in particular,Mexico has been speaking out against auctioning of artefacts that belong to Mexican cultures.
“In Mexico, this movement has gained great momentum and is strongly promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” Frausto said.
She said that this has awakened the awareness of collectors, private companies and citizens from various parts of the world, including Italy and Germany, who have voluntarily returned pre-Hispanic pieces to Mexico.
To this moment some 11,500 archaeological and historical artefacts have been recovered and several auctions cancelled, the minister said.
In 2021, an auction of pre-Columbian art objects from the Americas took place in Munich, much to the annoyance of Latin American nations. Mexico’s government had called for the auction to be cancelled, saying 74 of the 324 artefacts involved were the property of the Mexican nation and their sale a crime under Mexican law. — dpa
The artefacts arrived in Mexico City on Monday on an Aeromexico flight from Rome, the Mexican government said.
The items, which belonged to various pre-Columbian groups and mostly date back to the third to seventh century AD, had been recovered by Italian police following a number of investigations, the Carabinieri police said on Monday.
They were handed over to Mexican Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto in Rome on Friday.
“Today, the friendship between Mexico and Italy is crowned with anextraordinary act of generosity, 43 pieces of Mexican history begin the return to their origin, 43 fragments of ancient cultures that are the essence of the greatness of our country,” Frausto said.
The minister also said that over the last four years in particular,Mexico has been speaking out against auctioning of artefacts that belong to Mexican cultures.
“In Mexico, this movement has gained great momentum and is strongly promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” Frausto said.
She said that this has awakened the awareness of collectors, private companies and citizens from various parts of the world, including Italy and Germany, who have voluntarily returned pre-Hispanic pieces to Mexico.
To this moment some 11,500 archaeological and historical artefacts have been recovered and several auctions cancelled, the minister said.
In 2021, an auction of pre-Columbian art objects from the Americas took place in Munich, much to the annoyance of Latin American nations. Mexico’s government had called for the auction to be cancelled, saying 74 of the 324 artefacts involved were the property of the Mexican nation and their sale a crime under Mexican law. — dpa