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A set of over 200 heritage objects returned to Mexico

Mexico  City, Mexico — A set of more than 200 elements including bone remains, pieces made of jade and ceramics have been returned to Mexico. The heritage objects were returned from Germany, Argentina, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as by various consulates in the United States

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), through its Legal Advisory Office, handed over the pieces to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). A total of 279 cultural assets recovered by the Mexican embassies in Germany, Argentina, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom were returned.

The returned pieces also included consulates in the cities of Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nogales, Oxnard, Seattle and Tucson, in the United States. All the returned pieces were once in the possession of private individuals and were returned either through the action of local authorities, seizures, stopping auctions, or through negotiations with academic institutions and museums that, following the approach of the Government of Mexico, have agreed to return objects that were part of their collections.

Among the lots of restored pieces, the most notable are the bone remains of an infant dating from between 800 and 500 BC (Montreal), a tripod mortar dating from between 2500 BC and 1521 AD (Germany), a carved jade mask made in the Classic period of Mesoamerica (Los Angeles); and a clay pot created in the cultural area of Western Mesoamerica between 200 and 800 AD (Las Vegas),

Also, a bifacial knife from the Central Plateau of Mexico (Tucson) and 19 archaeological pieces made in various periods and areas of the current national territory, dating from the period between 1200 and 1521 AD (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

According to the opinions of INAH specialists, it was determined that the pieces belong to the cultural heritage of the Mexican nation, protected by the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones and adds to the restitution of more than 14,000 other cultural objects.