25 Oct. 2021 UNESCO hosted a ceremony for the voluntary handover,

by the private collector Manichak Aurance, of a fragment of  Mayan stela

no. 9 from the Piedras Negras archaeological site in Guatemala to Francisco

Roberto Gross Hernandez, Ambassador of Guatemala to UNESCO,

in the presence of Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

This important stone fragment shows the top part of the sumptuous  bird headdress

of an ancient ruler of Piedras Negras, who acceded to the throne in the year 729 AD.

(Piedras Negras (Black Stones) was the capital of a Maya kingdom that stretched

along the banks of Central America’s Usumacinta River between the fourth

century B.C. and the ninth century A.D).

Piedras Negras is located in the UNESCO Maya Biosphere Reserve, which has

archaeological sites and other tangible and intangible elements of great

cultural importance, constituting a valuable window into the development

of the Maya culture.

The fragment depicts the ruler in a jade petticoat worn by the god of corn.

This  is a unique piece of Guatemala’s history and cultural heritage and identity.

This stela disappeared from the Piedras Negras site in the 1960s.

It reappeared in Paris in 2019 during an auction.

Thanks to the joint mobilization of Guatemala, France and UNESCO,

the sale was suspended and mediation initiated.

The private collector Ms Aurance opted to voluntarily return the fragment to Guatemala.

Guatemala is a signatory to the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,

which this year marks its 50th anniversary of promoting cooperation,

concrete measures and advocacy among States Parties, UNESCO and its partners.

The handover of the fragment, which, thanks to UNESCO, will soon be sent to the National

Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Guatemala City, where it can be admired by

national and international visitors, underscores the importance of the 1970 Convention

and the ongoing fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property.

Sources: UNESCO website,  UNESCO press release  25/10/2021, UNESCO on Twitter