Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut will repatriate to Peru thousands of Inca artifacts excavated at Machu Picchu by the institution's expedition in 1911.
In a surprise move, Yale University and the Government of Peru issued a joint statement on September 14, 2007 announcing the repatriation of more than 4000 Inca artifacts from Machu Picchu in late 2009. The arrangement ends the somewhat contentious negotiations between the New Haven, Connecticut institution and Peruvian officials over the disputed ownership of mummified human remains, bones, ceramic sculptures and other works. Yale scholar Hiram Bingham III (1875-1956) and his team removed them from Machu Picchu after he rediscovered the mountaintop ruins during a 1911 expedition and shipped them to the university.
Machu Picchu is located high in the Andes Mountains. The 15th-century palace complex in southeast Peru was a Summer retreat for the Inca emperor, his family, court and guests when they wanted respite from the daily rigors of Cusco, the imperial capital. Recent scientifc findings suggest that the Inca elite probably occupied the royal location for less than 100 years, after which it was mysteriously abandoned.
The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University organized Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, a special exhibition of more than 200 artworks and other objects that toured the United States from January 2003 through July 2005. The show then remained on view at the Peabody Museum until August 27, 2006. As part of the new agreement, a second exhibition of objects from Machu Picchu and Cusco is soon to travel internationally, this time including additional artifacts loaned by the Peruvian government. Peru will construct a new Museum and Research Center in Cusco, where the show's works will be displayed permanently upon the tour's conclusion. In the spirit of academic cooperation, Yale and Peru will share the rights to the research collection and an unspecified number of objects will remain in New Haven temporarily as part of ongoing studies.
