Yale returns final lot of Machu Picchu items to Peru

Lima: Yale University returned to Peru the final lot of archaeological items from Machu Picchu that it agreed to hand over in an accord signed two years ago.

More than 35,000 ceramic and stone fragments not suitable for exhibit were transported to the southern city of Cuzco in 127 boxes and added to another two lots sent by the US university in March and December of last year. The agreement between the Peruvian government and Yale was reached in 2010, spurred by a lawsuit and an international campaign launched by Lima to get back all the pieces and fragments found by US explorer Hiram Bingham at the Inca citadel. Bingham came upon Machu Picchu for the first time July 24, 1911, and later retured with two expeditions, in 1912 and 1915, during which he took the archaeological objects back to his country for what was supposed to be a few months, though they eventually remained there for a century. IANS