One of the sculptures represents a pregnant female canid (canine animal) and is in the preclassical pre-Columbian style. According to estimates, they date from between 100 BC. and 250 A.D., BAK spokeswoman Anne Weibel told Keystone-SDA. Such items would be found as offerings in tombs.
The second image is a “Clay censer, probably representing a seated deity”. The origin of this portrait in postclassical pre-Columbian style is estimated between 1200 and 1521. These types of objects are associated with ritual sacrificial contexts.
Last year, the prosecutor’s office in Basel-Stadt seized the two archaeological objects because of false declarations and suspected importation of illegally excavated cultural objects. The proceeding followed an inspection by Basel-Mulhouse Customs in July 2019. The objects were imported from Canada.
After the seizure, the artifacts were entrusted to the BAK to be returned. The office makes four to five such returns per year, Weibel said.
The cultural objects are returned within the framework of the federal law on the international transfer of cultural objects. According to the BAK on its website, this law implements the 1970 Unesco Convention on Measures to Prohibit and Prevent the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
(SDA)