A total of 395 archaeological artifacts that were kept in Costa Rica’s diplomatic offices in Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington D.C., were repatriated to the country last month. These are pre-Columbian artifacts made of stone and ceramics. They include a pre-Columbian 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 the pieces had been in the diplomatic offices for up to 10 years. Most of them were voluntarily surrendered, while others were seized by US authorities and delivered to Costa Rica through the consular offices.
“Our two nations share a common belief in the importance of preserving and celebrating our unique histories. By repatriating these artifacts, we honor the ancestors who crafted them and the generations who maintained and nurtured their legacy. We recognize the value of these pieces as more than objects because they are an integral part of the identity of the Costa Rican people,” stressed the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, Cynthia Telles.
The repatriation had an investment of $42,650 and was possible thanks to the joint work of Fundación Parque Metropolitano La Libertad and the National Museum of Costa Rica, with funding from the Cultural Agreements Fund of the Embassy of the United States of America, which granted Costa Rica a total of $83,000 for the execution of the project “Management and Dissemination of Pre-Columbian Assets held in diplomatic offices of Costa Rica in the United States.”
As revealed by the Ministry of Culture and Youth, an exhibition with a selection of the pieces received is planned for 2025. It will be displayed in various museums in the seven provinces of the country, bringing the most remote communities closer to the repatriated archaeological heritage.
For this project, in its three axes, the fund granted the country a total budget of $83,000, while Costa Rica, through the budget of the National Museum, contributed 5,582,660.00 colones.
“It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that we receive this collection of beautiful ceramics with representations of animals and humans, metates that were used for ceremonies or to prepare food, stone tools, polychrome vessels, seals, and green stones that were used to decorate the bodies of our pre-Columbian ancestors. They tell us about a bygone era and complete one more piece of this puzzle of Costa Rican
