By Juan Fernando Lara Salas

Objects had been stored in diplomatic venues in that nation for up to 10 years, after being seized or voluntarily surrendered

Crafted in stone and ceramics, the shipment of pieces included metates, green stones (jade), polychrome vessels, human and animal figures, and stone tools. Photo: Courtesy.
The shipment of stone and ceramic pieces included metates, jade, polychrome vessels, human and animal figures, and stone tools. Photo: Courtesy of the National Museum
Archaeological pieces that remained in Costa Rican diplomatic venues in Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington returned to the country, announced the National Museum and the Metropolitan Park Foundation La Libertad on Tuesday.

The return of the 395 pre-Columbian objects took place on February 24th.

Among the most prominent stone and ceramic pieces is a sphere of about 65 centimeters in diameter, as well as metates, green stones (jade), polychrome vessels, human and animal figures, and stone tools. Some of these pieces had been in diplomatic offices for up to 10 years.

Most of the artifacts were voluntarily surrendered, while others had been seized by US authorities and returned to Costa Rica through consular offices, both entities reported in a press release.

From 1986 to the present, Costa Rica has repatriated a total of 3,560 archaeological goods from different countries in America and Europe.

The repatriation of these last 395 objects had a cost of $42,650, managed by the Foundation and the Museum, with financing from the Cultural Agreements Fund of the United States Embassy.

This fund granted Costa Rica $83,000 for the execution of the project “Management and Dissemination of Pre-Columbian Assets safeguarded in Costa Rican diplomatic venues in the United States.”

The initiative includes training for strategic actors involved in the safeguarding of the national archaeological heritage, as well as for the police forces stationed in different parts of the country.

It also includes outreach, education, and public awareness activities, as well as the repatriation of archaeological assets that were in diplomatic venues.

The director of the National Museum, Ifigenia Quintanilla, explained that the plan began in 2023, and to date, 141 people from the Air Surveillance Service, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), the Fiscal Control Police, the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ), the Public Force, and the Costa Rican embassies in Europe and America have been trained.

Exhibition plans

As part of the project, it is planned to hold an itinerant exhibition in 2025 with a selection of the received pieces in various museum spaces in the seven provinces of the country, with the aim of bringing communities closer to the repatriated archaeological heritage.

The official activity of delivering the newly arrived pieces took place on March 12th at the headquarters of the National Museum, in Pavas, where a sample was exhibited.

The event was attended by Vice Chancellor Lydia María Peralta Cordero, US Ambassador Cynthia Telles, Director of the Cultural Heritage Center of the US Department of State Eric Catalfamo, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Park Foundation La Libertad, Patricio Morera. Also present was Minister of Culture Nayuribe Guadamuz Rosales.

-News from the newspaper La Nacion-
https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/salud/comunidades-mas-afectadas-por-dengue-recibiran/CPDPFRM3CFAQ3J73RNFY7Z3W3I/story/