Artifacts from Machu Picchu, which were taken from Peru almost a century ago and recently returned by Yale University, have been put on display at the Government Palace, state news agency Andina reported.
Authorities have set up 16 showcases to display some 360 archaeological pieces from Machu Picchu in the government’s Golden and Tupac Amaru halls.
Of the artifacts, some 65 percent are ceramics, while the rest of the pieces are made of stone, copper and bronze.
The exhibition is open to the public, free of charge, until April 12 (9am to 8pm), according to the Culture Ministry’s director of museums and management of historic heritage, Marisol Ginocchio.
“After the exhibition, all of the pieces and fragments will be repacked… to be sent to Cusco, where they will also be exhibited in the Casa Concha,” Ginocchio said.
The Casa Concha is owned by San Antonio Abad del Cusco National University (UNSAAC).
Yale University will collaborate with UNSAAC to make the International Center for Machu Picchu, which will include a museum and research facilities.
The artifacts were taken to Yale for research purposes by explorer Hiram Bingham, an American historian sponsored by Yale and the National Geographic Society, during expeditions from 1912-16.
The first batch of pieces was returned to Peru last Wednesday. All 46,635 pieces are expected to be returned by December 2012, however only some 360 pieces are of museum quality.
