Who Owns, Who Decides and Why Not Us? The Debate on the Ownership of Archaeological Heritage

Old Questions, New Solutions

Abstract

In this very short article, two cases relating to the restitution of archaeological heritage will be presented. Political, ideological and moral issues will be deliberated alongside the problem of human rights and the recommendations of the UNESCO Conventions (1970; 1972). The first is the well-known and still unresolved discussion between the Greek government and representatives of the British Museum over the return of the ‘Elgin Marbles’. This debate, which has been ongoing for many years, has not yet to reach a satisfactory conclusion and the economic and political crisis that Greece has been experiencing over recent years has not aided the Greek case. The second is the probably lesser-known debate between the Peruvian government and representatives of Yale University in New Haven (USA) concerning the return of artifacts from the ‘Machu Picchu collection’, which were taken out of the Republic of Peru by the team of the American professor, Hiram Bingham, one hundred years ago. It is an unusual case, since the right to possession and access to national cultural heritage was eventually respected and the collection of exported artifacts returned.