The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned eight artifacts to Peru during a ceremony at the Peruvian consulate in New York on May 15. The repatriated items include funerary objects illegally taken from tombs in northern Peru during the 1960s and ’70s, a copper mask believed to represent the Moche deity Ai Apaec (circa 300 BCE) from the looted Loma Negra site, and a ceramic portrait vessel from the Chavín culture (1000–700 BCE). This is the second time New York officials have returned a group of works to Peru.
The handover highlights the growing focus on Latin American antiquities by the District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, which has repatriated over 2,000 artifacts worth an estimated $250 million to countries including Italy, Greece, and Turkey. The return comes amid heightened attention to Peru’s archaeological heritage, including a recent discovery at Áspero of a 5,000-year-old funerary site. The case underscores ongoing efforts to combat looting and restore cultural patrimony to source nations.