30 antiquities returned to the people of Mexico

(Tempo di lettura: 3 minuti)

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. has announced the return of 30 antiquities to the people of Mexico collectively valued at nearly $500,000. The pieces were seized pursuant to multiple ongoing investigations into looting and trafficking networks targeting South and Central American cultural heritage. The pieces were returned at a ceremony with Acting Consul General Joaquín Gerardo Pastrana Uranga and Alexandra deArmas, Group Supervisor, Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Group at Homeland Security Investigations, New York.

“The pieces being returned today reflect the depth and beauty of this ancient cultural heritage. There are unfortunately many more pieces looted from Mexico that are still sitting in galleries, homes and auction houses, and we will continue to track them down with our law enforcement partners at HSI,” said District Attorney Bragg.

“Standing side-by-side with our domestic and foreign partners, HSI New York has successfully linked one antiquities trafficking network to over a dozen countries and thousands of artefacts — including those returned to the People of Mexico today,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker. “The repatriation of these 30 pieces is the culmination of months, if not years, spent seeking the truth on behalf of an entire nation. HSI New York’s Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Group, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and our global counterparts refuse to stand idly by as bad actors commodify history with impunity,” said Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker, HSI New York. 

“The repatriation of these artefacts represents a profound commitment to justice and cultural preservation. Each piece is a part of Mexico’s history and identity, and their return will inspire future generations. We are deeply grateful to the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for their remarkable and commendable efforts to recover and protect the cultural heritage of nations. Their work not only uplifts our shared history but also strengthens the bonds of friendship and collaboration between our countries,” said Acting Consul General Joaquín Pastrana Uranga.

These types of Mesoamerican artefacts have been sought after by looters in Mexico throughout the 20^th century and into the 21^st. They were smuggled into the United States where they were laundered by various dealers using fabricated provenance and false appraisals.

The pieces being returned today include:

• A stone Ballgame yoke, dated to roughly 300 – 600 CE, is a ceremonial representation of a piece of sports equipment. The ballgame is one of the earliest known sports involving a ball. Stone yokes such as this one are too heavy to be used in the game and were likely for ceremonial use or given as trophies. Examples of stone ballgame yokes have been found in burial tombs, indicating that there were status symbols.
• A Xipe Totec Figure depicting a priest of Xipe Totec, the Aztec God of agriculture and warfare. He wears the skin of a sacrificial victim, in honour of Xipe Totec flaying himself to feed humanity. This imagery symbolizes life springing from death, reflecting Xipe Totec’s role in the vegetation cycles, from the renewal of crops in spring to the harvest in autumn.
• A stone Feathered Rattlesnake & Anthropomorphic Turtle represent two aspects of the Aztec creator deity Quetzalcoatl. As a creator god and patron of wind, art, and learning, Quetzalcoatl was central to Aztec cosmology. His Feathered Rattlesnake form was worshipped in Teotihuacan as far back as the first century BC; it is a prominent and iconic element of Aztec architecture. Quetzalcoatl’s human form was called Ehecatl, the wind god, believed to be depicted here as a turtle.

During District Attorney Bragg’s tenure, the ATU recovered almost 2,100 antiquities stolen from 39 countries and valued at $250 million. Since its creation, the ATU has recovered almost 5,800 antiquities valued at almost $460 million and has returned more than 5,250 of them to 29 countries.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel, supervised the investigations, which were conducted by Assistant District Attorneys James Edwards-Lebair and Taylor Holland; Investigative Analyst Charlotte Looram and former Investigative Analyst Alyssa Thiel; District Attorney Investigator John Paul Labbat; and Special Agent Robert Fromkin of Homeland Security Investigations.

[Source: NY District Attorney’s Office].