Peru Sues Yale For Return Of Artifacts

HARTFORD (AP) — Peru is suing Yale University to recover thousands of Incan relics excavated by an American explorer at Machu Picchu.

Explorer Hiram Bingham shipped thousands of ceramics, textiles and bones to Yale after rediscovering Machu Picchu in 1911. The mountaintop ruins are Peru’s main tourist attraction.

Peru sought to reclaim the artifacts in 2006, but an agreement to share them stalled last year.

Yale representatives met Peru’s foreign minister in September, but failed to reach a deal.

Peru says Yale has more than 40,000 Machu Picchu artifacts.

The lawsuit was filed December 5 in a federal court in Washington, D.C., and claims the artifacts are central to the history and heritage of Peru.

The court document also says that Yale is wrongfully, improperly, and fraudulently detaining the items.