Disputed Incan Treasure

in The New Nixon by Jonathan Movroydis — August 5, 2008 at 1:45 pm | 0 comments

Machhu Picchu at Dawn, Photo By Jonathan C. Movroydis

The lost Incan city founded by legendary explorer, Yale History professor, and Connecticut politician Hiram Bingham, has been a source of controversy recently. Bingham, during his National Geographic sponsored excavation of Machu Picchu starting in 1911, discovered more than 40,000 artifacts. Now a handful of Peruvian residents are angered at an agreement between the Peruvian government and Yale University that apparently lacks the requisite teeth that would complete such a transfer. This according to an article in Cuba’s Prensa Latina. Considering the source, its language is decidedly hostile and bias towards the American university:

Peruvians staged a mass rally on Monday to demand that the US University of Yale return more than 40,000 archeological artifacts plundered by US expert Hiram Bingham from the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.

More than 100 protestors, mainly women, gathered in the main square of the Andean city of Cusco, the capital of the province of the same name, where Machu Picchu is located, to demand the devolution of the treasure.

The president of the nongovernmental Council for the Defense of Cusco’s Natural and Cultural Heritage, Marina Tagle de Rebatta, headed the protest, during which demonstrators washed flags of Peru and Tahuantinsuyo – the Inca Empire, of which Cusco was the capital – to condemn the plundering of archeological artifacts.

Bingham took the artifacts to Yale, promising that he would return them after studying them. The US expert excavated and explored the ruins exclusively after arriving there in 1912 and proclaiming himself their discoverer, although many Cusco residents and some foreigners already knew the Inca sanctuary at the time.

The Peruvian government and Yale began negotiations on the Machu Picchu treasure last year, and signed an agreement that does not guarantee the devolution of the artifacts, so Cusco organizations and prominent Peruvian personages have condemned the deal.

The US institution National Geographic, which sponsored Bingham’s expedition in 1912, along with the University of Yale, has supported Peru’s demand.

National Geographic stated that the archeological artifacts kept in Yale were handed over to Bingham as a loan for a period that expired long ago, so the treasure must be returned to Peru.

Garrido Lecca offered Yale the possibility to study the artifacts, so a new agreement would be signed after the devolution.

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