Rome.- Italy returned to Mexico this Thursday a valuable lot of 27 pre-Columbian archaeological and paleontological pieces of inestimable historical value, which had been recovered by the Carabinieri’s Cultural Heritage Protection (TPC) unit in various operations against the illegal art trade.
The formal handover took place at the headquarters of the Mexican Embassy in Rome, where the Brigadier General of the Carabinieri, Antonio Petti, returned the pieces to the Mexican ambassador, Genaro Lozano, in a ceremony attended by the director of the “Tina Modotti” Cultural Institute of Mexico, Mónica de la Mora Kuri.
In an interview with EFE, the ambassador highlighted that these pieces “represent the living history of Mexico,” underscoring that this handover has no monetary value, but rather the “value of memory, of justice, and of recovering and keeping history alive.”
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The diplomat recalled that since 2013, more than 840 pieces have been repatriated and that the collaboration with Italy is “very successful,” framed within the international campaign “My Heritage Is Not For Sale” promoted by the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
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For his part, General Antonio Petti explained to EFE that the objects are in an “absolutely excellent state of conservation” after being intercepted at customs, internet auctions, and private collections, celebrating that “they will be able to return to their places of origin and restore the legacy of Mexican cultural identity.”
The recovery of the batch is the result of a complex investigation by police units in Florence (center), Monza (north), Rome, and Ancona (center).
Among the returned pieces, highlights include three Teotihuacan heads from the Central Highlands (200 B.C. – 650 A.D.) found in an inheritance in Milan (north), two Mayan terracotta statuettes from the Mesoamerican Early Classic period (100-400 A.D.) seized in Rome, and a tripod bowl recovered after a voluntary surrender in Monza.
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Likewise, the investigations in Florence allowed for the location of 16 pre-Columbian pieces that were being offered illicitly on a well-known e-commerce platform.
The restituted cargo is completed by three exceptional fossil fish from the late Cretaceous period that agents of the TPC in Venice (north) detected at customs within an illegal postal shipment originating from Nuevo León (northeast Mexico).
The pieces, cataloged by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) as archaeological monuments that are the inalienable property of the Nation, will be immediately transferred to Mexican territory so that the authorities can decide on their museum distribution or their return to their places of origin.
