Bolivia recovers 22 archaeological pieces from Germany

Twenty-two archaeological pieces of the Tiwanaku culture has been repatriated from Germany and will be put on display in a museum in La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia, local media reported Saturday.

Tiwanaku is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia.

At a news conference on Saturday in Santa Cruz, the capital of the eastern department of Santa Cruz, Bolivian President Evo Morales showed the artifacts along with the photos taken by German cameraman Hans Ertl.

Ertl's grandson Tobias Wagner Berger had all these items in Munich, Germany, and returned them to the South American country.

"I have been amazed to see that the artifacts are part of the Bolivian people," said Morales, noting that now the items need to be catalogued.

Morales said the operation to return the archaeological pieces and valuable photos, treasured by a family in Germany for 50 years, began when Bolivian diplomats received messages from Ertl's remaining family who expressed a desire to return the archaeological treasures to Bolivia.

Bolivian Culture Minister Marko Machicao said the items will be moved to La Paz to be studied.

The artifacts come from Tiwanaku and from the Pacajes culture, said Machicao.

Machicao hoped that families in other countries could also return more archaeological pieces that left Bolivia in an uncertain way.

Machicao said a technical team from his ministry will evaluate, make an inventory and identify the origin of the returned archaeological pieces.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca thanked Tobias Wagner Berger for returning part of Bolivia's cultural heritage. Endi