Mexico.- The Ministry of Culture vial National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), thanked the repatriation of some twenty pre-Columbian goods made by Mesoamerican cultures, as well as a couple of printed volumes from the 17th and 18th centuries, the latter stolen during the US intervention in Mexico (1847-1848).
The lot of objects, the product of voluntary restitutions, is a sign of a change in mentality and binational cooperation, which has a positive impact on the knowledge of a historical moment that defined the destinies of both countries.
The set of archaeological pieces and historical books was repatriated, via diplomatic bag, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which managed its return through the Legal Consultancy of the Foreign Ministry and the Consulate General of Mexico in New York. The assets are kept in the Directorate of the Public Registry of Monuments and Archaeological and Historical Zones of the INAH, an instance that will carry out the due public registration of the monuments susceptible to it in the Single System of Public Registry, for its subsequent investigation and conservation by institute specialists.
In this cooperation, the initiative of the Monmouth County Historical Association (MCHA) of New Jersey stands out, a non-profit organization that has a collection donated in 1933 by a descendant of the military man James Wall Schureman ( 1822-1852), who fought in the American invasion of Mexico, whose culmination was the capture of Mexico City, in mid-September 1847.
From this collection come the two repatriated volumes, to which is added a third that was returned to Mexico through the same diplomatic channel, at the beginning of last February. It is worth noting the dedication of the author Rick Geffken, who, visiting the MCHA library two years ago, noticed the origin of these books and, since then, together with members of said historical association, contacted the consul general from Mexico in New York, Jorge Islas López, to manage his return.
As the deputy director of the Register of Movable Archaeological Monuments of the INAH, Jaime Alejandro Bautista Valdespino, points out, the three documents show the same note in English on the first page: “The family of James Wall Schureman Campbell / nephew of James Wall Schureman, first lieutenant of the US Army, serving with General Winfield S. Scott in the war against Mexico / This book taken from a palace in Mexico City”. It is known that, once the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty was signed, US troops left the Mexican capital on June 12, 1848.
The archaeologist Bautista Valdespino comments that one of the two recently repatriated books dates from 1714. In it, the merits of the “Licentiate DON FELIPE Rodriguez de Ledefma, Cornejo, Núñez de Prado, and Zúñiga: Canon of the oldest of the Santa Igefia Cathedral of the City of Los Angeles in New-Efpaña […]”, and an extensive family tree is attached. The form ends with the following sentence: “With license in Puebla: by the widow of Miguel de Ortega.”
The second volume deals with the hydraulic system of the basin of Mexico, containing a “General Regulation of Water Measurements”, in its middle part, and a fold-out map of the region. It is necessary to emphasize that it actually integrates three forms from different periods, all bound, the first is from 1637 and the others date from the 18th century, in which the flooding problems of the capital of New Spain are based.
Regarding the third book, dated 1715, which was repatriated two months ago, the archaeologist indicates that its first pages read: “Fundación de Obra Pía for the Maintenance of Students…” and, according to the Monmouth County Historical Association, contains guidelines for a college dedication by José de la Puente y Peña, who crossed the Atlantic to Mexico at age 15 and would become known as the Marquis of la Villapuente, a character who earned the empathy of the then King Carlos II.
Two millennia of Mesoamerican history
Regarding the pre-Hispanic pieces, the specialist of the INAH Public Registry Directorate, Pablo Daniel López Sánchez, explained that they come mainly from the cultural areas of the Gulf Coast and the Central Highlands, and cover a time span of two millennia, which It goes from the Preclassic to the Late Postclassic period, that is, from the year 600 BC, to the centuries close to Spanish contact.
There are two small mortars carved in volcanic rock, from the Queretaro highlands, fragments of seals and anthropomorphic figurines from the traditional shaft tombs of western Mexico; as well as the Totonac styles —known as “smiley faces”— and Teotihuacan, dating from the Mesoamerican Classic period (400-900 AD), the archaeologist points out.
From the group stands out a sculpture made of rock, possibly diorite, whose dimensions are 23.5 cm high, 14.5 cm wide and 7.5 cm thick. It represents a standing nude male figure wearing a headdress and sharing features of the Teotihuacan style, developed in the Mesoamerican Classic period. It is worth mentioning that, as part of the restitution, three fragmented figurines from the early colonial period are included.
These pieces and the books are added to the 5,865 archaeological and historical assets that have been repatriated to Mexico so far during this administration, which has carried out outstanding work in terms of bilateral cooperation for the restitution of cultural assets, establishing agreements with the United States, China, Guatemala, Belize, Chile, Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay, Switzerland, Italy, Saint Lucia, among others.
The Government of Mexico reaffirms its commitment to combat illicit trafficking in cultural property, as well as to actively participate in strengthening national and international legal frameworks for the protection of cultural heritage.
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With actions like this, the efforts made to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property and for the repatriation of pieces that are national heritage and that are found illegally abroad are followed up.
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