Mexico City, Mexico — The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico has received a batch of 160 repatriated cultural assets. This batch makes up the first restitution carried out in 2026.
The assest were received through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). They arrived in Mexico from the Legal Consulting Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).
The assest have been added to the 3,556 heritage objects recovered during the current administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The Secretary of Culture of the Government of Mexico, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, stated that “the repatriation of these assets is the result of constant work, cooperation between institutions and sustained action by the Mexican State in the international arena.”
“Each recovered object represents a part of our country’s history that returns to be studied, safeguarded, and recognized in its true context.”
The 157 archaeological pieces are mainly made of ceramic, The three historical pieces were determined by experts from the Directorate of Public Registry of the INAH and to correspond to different cultural areas. They include Central Highlands, West, Bajío and the Mayan area.
Their temporalities range from the Mesoamerican Preclassic period (2500 BC-200 AD) to the viceregal era.
The legal advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, pointed out that most of these items were voluntarily returned by private individuals, but also include pieces recovered thanks to cooperation with foreign judicial authorities.
All are returning to national territory thanks to the efforts of our country’s network of embassies and consulates in the United States, Canada, Argentina and France.
Alejandro Bautista Valdespino, Deputy Director of the Registry of Movable Archaeological Monuments at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), acknowledged the work of the Legal Counsel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the National Coordination of Legal Affairs at INAH.
He reported that the objects are in good condition and will soon be registered in the Institute’s Public Registry. Should any require conservation or restoration, specialists from the National Coordination of Cultural Heritage Conservation will be consulted.
“As part of the diplomatic, legal, academic and ethical process inherent in each repatriation, the assets, once registered, will be gradually transferred to the museums of the INAH network, based on their characteristics and cultural affiliation, so that they can be exhibited and enjoyed by society,” he said.
Among the archaeological objects, 140 pieces were voluntarily handed over to the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle, United States. They include clay figurines from the Central Highlands dating from the Preclassic period.
Also, others of Teotihuacan origin from the Early Classic period (200-600 AD) and various female anthropomorphic sculptures from the Chupícuaro, Shaft Tombs, Chinesco and Tala-Tonalá traditions.
Also, through voluntary delivery to the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh, United States, there is the case of 12 pieces, including anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, as well as vessels from the Central Highlands, the West and the territory that today occupies Oaxaca, which date from the Classic period (200-900 AD).
One piece, delivered to the Mexican consulate in New Brunswick, Canada was part of the catalog of an auction held in 2011 and was recovered after being secured by the Customs and Border Protection Service of the neighboring country.
From Paris, France, two anthropomorphic figurines and a zoomorphic effigy vessel from the West, of the style known as San Sebastián (on the borders of Jalisco and Nayarit), were repatriated, whose temporality is located between the years 300 and 600 of our era.
Regarding historical artifacts, two 18th-century Baroque-style wooden doors, likely originating from the Central Highlands or the Bajío region, were recovered in the North American city of Atlanta. They were carved in high relief with scenes of saints, angels, scrolls, and floral motifs.
The book Manual Summa de las Ceremonias de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de México según el orden del Capítulo General de Roma, printed in 1703 in Mexico City and seized by the Argentine Federal Police, was also returned to our country.
The preliminary assessment, based on images provided to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was conducted by Baltazar Brito Guadarrama, head of the National Library of Anthropology and History.
This handover confirms the ongoing commitment of Mexican institutions to the identification, recovery, and enhancement of cultural heritage that forms part of the identity of our peoples.
