Mexico repatriates hundreds of thousand-year-old artifacts from private collector

Among the 182 artifacts returned, many were crafted in western Mexico during the Classical Mesoamerican period (AD 100-400).

An artifact returned to Mexico.

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced on November 4 that it had repatriated 182 pre-Columbian artifacts from a private collector in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.

Among these, many artifacts are up to 2,000 years old.

According to the SRE's announcement on the same day, this is an effort by the Mexican diplomatic mission in the US, as well as the charity of a local collector in voluntarily returning the artifacts bearing the cultural imprint of indigenous peoples who lived in Mexico thousands of years ago.

In the announcement, SRE specified that among the 182 artifacts, many were crafted in the western region of Mexico during the Classical Mesoamerican period (100-400 AD), 5 human-shaped clay figures originated from the Central Mexican Highlands, dating from the Preclassical Mesoamerican period (200 BC to 200 AD).

Stressing that the artifacts “are invaluable heritage and the roots and culture of Mexico,” SRE expressed gratitude to the organizations and individuals who contributed to the protection and repatriation of the Latin American country’s cultural heritage.

Collecting and preserving historical artifacts has been one of the government 's top priorities for many years.

Since 2018, SRE has asked Mexican diplomatic missions abroad to conduct campaigns to search for lost Mexican artifacts from different historical periods.

In addition, the Mexican Government has for many years increased global propaganda about Mexico's rich history and culture, thereby contributing to convincing governments of many countries as well as individual collectors to proactively return the antiquities of this Latin American country.

According to the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History, over the past six years, Mexico has received nearly 12,000 artifacts, including many valuable historical artifacts that have been displayed in famous museums as well as in private collections around the world./ .

According to VNA

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