NEW HAVEN Conn.
An inventory provided by Yale University could help avoid a lawsuit over Peruvian artifacts brought to New Haven by a well-known explorer nearly a century ago.
The government of Peru wants the collection back, saying it never relinquished ownership when Yale scholar Hiram Bingham III rediscovered the Incan city of Machu Picchu in 1911 and began exporting artifacts from what has become one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites.
Peruvian officials had threatened a lawsuit, but Peru’s new president appears willing to settle the dispute without legal action.
As part of that effort, Yale has agreed to provide a list of the artifacts, which could help decide who gets to keep them.
A group of Peruvians led by the country’s housing minister are expected to visit New Haven next month to talk with Yale officials.
“Why should we pursue a lawsuit?” said Vladimir Kocerha, a spokesman for the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, D.C. “Things are progressing. We are talking to them. They are talking to us.”
