[MSN] Priceless Peruvian treasure recovered

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Priceless Peruvian treasure recovered
Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:28 AM BST

LONDON (Reuters) - Police said on Thursday they had recovered a 
priceless ancient Peruvian headdress in London which had been stolen by 
looters almost 20 years ago.

The headdress, depicting an image of a sea god, was seized from a 
lawyers' office in central London and is considered to be of "phenomenal 
importance" to Peruvian cultural heritage, Scotland Yard said.

"We are speaking about an archaeological object of the utmost historical 
and aesthetical importance, one of the most important ornaments of the 
ancient Peruvian cultures," said Walter Alva, director of the Royal 
Tombs of Sipan Museum in Peru.

The artefact, made of gold, symbolises a mythical octopus with a 
stylised human head displaying cat-like features and eight tentacles.

It is thought to date from about 700 AD and to be an example of ancient 
Peruvian Mochica civilisation art.

"No ornament of similar quality can be found in any Peruvian museum and 
it is inconceivable that such an important part of national treasure is 
out of our country," Alva said in a statement.

British detectives believe the headdress was taken from the La Mina 
archaeological site in the Jequetepeque valley in north Peru in 1988 
when a tomb was looted and its contents put on the black market.

No arrests have been made in connection with the seizure but no further 
details of the operation were immediately available.

http://today.reuters.co.uk