
(LIP-ir) -- 18 pre-Colombian archaeological pieces, recovered in Germany, were given to the Director of Peru's National Institute of Culture (INC) by Chanecellor José A. García Belaunde in a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday morning.
The pieces, which were returned to Peru's consulate in Hamburg at the end of 2004 by a German citizen who considered them a part of Peru's heritage, included ceramic sculptures, objects made of organic material as well as a copper funeral mask.
Digital pictures provided by Peru's Consulate permitted the INC to analyze, evaluate and determine the origin of the pre - Colombian pieces. Once the INC report was finished, the pieces were authenticated, repatriated and insured for shipment.
The pieces are now back in the country as fruits of the extensive coordination between the National Institute of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Peru's Consulate in Hamburg.