HomeCulture
Culture

For the first time, Portugal returns pre-Columbian artifacts to Mexico

MND Staff
By MND Staff
1
portugal returns artifacts
The return by Portugal of three archaeological artifacts was the latest example of cooperative efforts to respect the heritage of individual nations. (Embamexpor)

In another win for Mexico’s efforts to recover archaeological artifacts from abroad, Portugal has made its first-ever restitution of pre-Columbian objects to Mexico, as both countries commit to combat illegal trafficking of cultural property. 

The pieces include a female figure from western Mexico associated with fertility rituals, a polychrome Maya vessel from the Classic period and a Zapotec urn representing the god Cocijo, deity of rain and fertility.

Dr. Luis Neves, national director o Portugal's Judicial Police
Dr. Luis Neves, national director of Portugal’s Judicial Police, noted that the restitution “facilitates the reconstruction of social and religious contexts for the history of Mexico.” (Embmexpor)

“This is the first restitution of pre-Hispanic archaeological heritage from Portugal to Mexico, reflecting institutional collaboration and a shared commitment to combating the illegal trafficking of cultural property,” Portugal’s Judicial Police said in a statement. 

The handover took place Thursday during a ceremony at the Mexican Embassy in Lisbon, in collaboration with the Camões Institute for Cooperation and Language.

The pieces stand out for their historical, aesthetic, and symbolic value,” the Judicial Police acknowledged, adding that their recovery “facilitates the reconstruction of social and religious contexts for the history of Mexico.”

Although this is the first time Portugal has repatriated an artifact to Mexico, it’s not the first time a piece has been recovered from the European country.

In 2024, Mexico recovered a 2,000-year-old piece before it was auctioned at the Renascimento-Avaliações e Leilões auction house. As soon as Mexican authorities learned of the auction, the National Institute of Archeology and History (INAH) filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), while thn Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero sent a formal request to the auction house urging them to stop the sale of the piece.

In collaboration with embassies in both countries, the Renascimento-Avaliações e Leilões auction house returned the piece.

Illicitly traded cultural property is often sold either in illegal markets around the world or through legal avenues such as public auctions, including online. 

Many of the artifacts that Mexico has recovered are the result of a federal government task force created in 2023 that works with local authorities abroad to seek judicial redress and halt auctions in New York, Paris and Rome. The task force also negotiates with academic institutions and museums to recover archaeological artifacts from abroad.  

 With reports from from Infobae

1 COMMENT

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Facade of the "House of Indigenous Peoples and Communities Samir Flores Soberanes in Mexico City.

Inside the Otomí takeover of Mexico’s Indigenous affairs headquarters

Tracy L. Barnett - 0
Six years ago, roughly 100 members of the Otomí community walked into the headquarters of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico City. They've been there ever since, writes Tracy L. Barnett, and are still fighting for Indigenous rights.
In attendance at the project's launch were the Chinese ambassador to Mexico, Chen Daojiang, INAH’s technical secretary José Luis Perea González and Yucatán Culture Minister Silvia Patricia Martín, as well as researchers and students from Shandong University, ejido (communally-owned land) authorities and representatives of nearby communities.

Mexico and China launch joint archaeological project in Yucatán

MND Staff - 0
The collaboration between Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and China's Shandong University aims to bring researchers and students from both nations together to preserve the heritage of Yaxcopoil, a small community located within the Chicxulub impact crater.
A scientists examines a haltún in the Yucatán Peninsula.

‘We need to recover respect for the apparently non-living’: Yameli Guadalupe Aguilar Duarte on geodiversity

Katy Alivraz - 1
"Respect for the non-living" world of rocks and landforms is explored in this interview with scientist Yameli Guadalupe Aguilar Duarte, who studies geodiversity in the Yucatán.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity

VIDEO OF THE WEEK