U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
March 16, 2004
2004//271
Media Note
U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Larry L. Palmer, representing the U.S. Government, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Leonidas Rosa Bautista, representing the Government of the Republic of Honduras, signed an agreement in Tegucigalpa on March 12, 2004, to protect the Pre-Columbian heritage of Honduras. The agreement recognizes that this heritage is in jeopardy from pillage and enables the imposition of import restrictions on certain categories of archaeological material ranging in date from approximately 1200 B.C. to approximately 1500 A.D. The agreement will protect Pre-Columbian archaeological material that includes objects made of ceramic (such as polychrome painted vessels of the Ulúa Valley), metal, stone (such as Ulúa style carved marble vessels), shell, and animal bone. This material is representative of the cultures of Pre-Columbian Honduras that include the Maya, Chorti Maya, Lenca, Jicaque and Pipil cultures. The Government of Honduras sought such assistance from the United States under Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol promulgated the regulations for the import restriction on March 16, 2004.
Honduras is considered the Mesoamerican frontier - a unique archaeological record including sites and artifacts much like those from all time periods in Mesoamerica, as well as features more closely tied with cultural groups in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, traditionally viewed as outside of Mesoamerica. The diverse and rich archaeological record reflects these ties making the pre-history of Honduras unique in Central America. Parts of western Honduras are considered part of ancient Mesoamerica, defined by the occupation of Maya culture.
This agreement and import restrictions were made in response to pillage of archaeological sites. Pillage disturbs the context of otherwise intact sites, depriving scientific research of important information about the cultures of Honduras. It places the national cultural heritage in jeopardy and endangers important sites, such as Copan, a designated World Heritage Site, El Puente, Los Naranjos, and many others. By entering into this agreement, the United States demonstrates its respect for the cultural heritage of Honduras and decries the global pillage that results in illicit trade in cultural objects and the irretrievable loss of information about human history. The United States hopes this action will reduce the incentive for further pillage of the unique and non-renewable cultural heritage of the people of Honduras.
In addition to imposing import restrictions, the agreement calls upon both governments to encourage academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and other private entities to cooperate in the exchange of knowledge and information about the cultural patrimony of Honduras, and to collaborate in the preservation and protection of such cultural patrimony through technical assistance, training, cultural resource management, public education, and museum development.
The decision to enter into this agreement was made after consideration of recommendations made by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. Further information about categories of Pre-Columbian objects restricted from entering the U.S. is in the Federal Register Notice of March 16, 2004. The notice and the agreement are available on the State Department’s International Cultural Property Protection website: <http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop>. Honduras is the fourth Central American country to enter into such a bilateral agreement with the U.S. The others are El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
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