The United States returns 1,305 artifacts stolen in the 19th century to Costa Rica

Photo: Myla Lopez / Reuters

The unfinished headstone, a large porcelain vase coated with beeswax, human representations and antique tools for processing corn are artifacts from a collection of 1,305 pieces returned to Costa Rica.

This is the second time that the Brooklyn Museum in New York has returned more than 2,000 years of fruit to Central America.

Tycoon Minor Keith exported bananas to the United States in the early 19th or early 20th century as artifacts looted during the construction of a railroad.

Costa Rican archaeologists have been amazed since the artifacts arrived late last year.

“We have only seen the grave as examples in textbooks here,” said Daniela Menisse, a researcher at the National Museum of Costa Rica. “It’s amazing to see this piece now. It’s so exciting.”

The helmet is believed to have been part of the tomb of an important person from extinct civilization.

At a height of about half a meter, one of the largest pieces of the vessel is the mug, which is used to store seeds or water; It is decorated with human figures and strange geometric lines, painted with beeswax.

There are even more Costa Rican artifacts in Brooklyn and other museums across the United States.

But Javier Fallus, an archaeologist at the State Museum, said the return was an unusual gesture: “We don’t know why they did it, but it’s one of the best and strangest in the world.

Seven years ago, four sites in the south of the country were recognized as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).