U.S. GIVES BACK MEXICAN ARTIFACTS CAPTURED IN N.Y.

Byline: Eduardo Montes Associated Press

Mexican officials Thursday reclaimed a cache of pre-Columbian artifacts - the oldest nearly 2,000 years old - seized by U.S. agents from a shipment bound for a New York art dealer.

``This represents the return of our history,'' said Maria Dolores Limongi, a Mexican consular official who received the clay and stone figurines from U.S. Customs agents. ``They are priceless.''

Among the artifacts were clay incense burners and clay and stone figurines, including an intricate representation of a priest in ceremonial garb, complete with a removable mask.

The collection was intercepted in 1993 by Drug Enforcement Administration agents searching suspicious packages at the El Paso International Airport.

They were turned over to Customs, which, with the assistance of art experts, determined that 14 of 25 pieces were genuine artifacts from different cultures and eras in Mexican history.

It took until this year to verify the artifacts' origin, Customs officials said. The oldest piece, a red clay tripod vessel, is nearly 2,000 years old. The newest, a small jadeite button, is nearly 500 years old, they said.

Experts determined some had come from the Mayan civilization in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula around 600-900 A.D. Others were from cultures that occupied ancient Veracruz along the Gulf Coast crescent during the same time.

More came from the area around what is now modern-day Jalisco in central Mexico, from about 100 A.D.

The entire collection was appraised at a minimum of $15,500.

The artifacts will be sent to the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, which will place them in a museum, possibly in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso.