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Thursday, 14th June 2007 (4940 views)

Hundreds of stolen pre-Columbian artefacts have been returned to Peru by the US.

Among the retrieved items were gold jewellery and a clay vessel thought to be over 3,500 years old.

Julie Myers, an assistant secretary for Homeland Security, said: "These artefacts are not souvenirs."

"The items being returned today are a thread of a nation rich in cultural heritage," she added.

Believed to have been dug up from graves in the country, an Italian man named Ugo Bagnato was arrested and charged in connection with the pieces.

Peruvian Consul General Jorge Roman Morey told the Associated Press that the return of the objects sends a "clear message" to perpetrators of such crimes that "these pieces belong to humanity and not private individuals".

Lima, Peru's capital, is the site of the Gold Museum, which displays a variety of pre-Columbian artefacts.

 

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