Colombians Request Return of Prehistoric Artwork

News December 31, 2012

SHARE:

SAN AGUSTIN, COLOMBIAMore than 1,500 residents of the San Agustin region of southern Colombia have signed a petition asking Germany to return 35 stone statues excavated by archaeologist Konrad Preuss between 1913 and 1914. He then transported them out of the country after World War I. It is not clear if Colombian law at the time prohibited exports of cultural patrimony, however. Some of the 1,000-year-old human figures, which have feline or reptile characteristics, are on display at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. The rest are in storage. So far, the Colombian Culture Ministry has not made any commitment to asking Germany for the return of the statues.

  • Features November/December 2012

    Zeugma After the Flood

    New excavations continue to tell the story of an ancient city at the crossroads between east and west

    Read Article
    Photo of Belkıs/Zeugma
    (Hasan Yelken/Images & Stories)
  • Letter from India November/December 2012

    Living Heritage at Risk

    Searching for a new approach to development, tourism, and local needs at the grand medieval city of Hampi

    Read Article
    (Gethin Chamberlain)
  • Artifacts November/December 2012

    Beaker Vessels

    Ceramic beakers were the vessels of choice for the so-called “Black Drink” used at Cahokia by Native Americans in their purification rituals

    Read Article
    (Linda Alexander, photographer, use with permission of the Illinois State Archaeological Society)
  • Digs & Discoveries November/December 2012

    The Desert and the Dead

    Read Article
    chinchorro-mummy
    (Courtesy Bernardo Arriaza)