Comment on DOS-2011-0136-0002

Madame Chairperson and Members of the Committee, I am writing to strongly express my support for the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Peru Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material From Pre-Hispanic Cultures and Certain Ethnological Material from the Colonial Period of Peru. I am as an Assistant Professor of Latin American Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at Smith College (Northampton, MA) and have been conducting research in the Lake Titicaca Basin (Department of Puno) for almost 20 years. Relative to sites on the Peruvian coast, materials from highland archaeological sites in the Titicaca Basin do not tend to appear as frequently in antiquities shops, at auction houses, and seized from the luggage of tourists and illegal exporters. However, there are many political, economic, and technological factors that will likely lead to increased disruption of archaeological sites (and their associated material remains) in the next few years. Specifically, as agriculture becomes more mechanized (resulting in faster, deeper plowing) and growing population centers make it increasingly difficult to protect archaeological resources, there will be more artifacts removed from these sites and they will end up in the hands of tourists, “middlemen”, and eventually dealers in antiquities. I very strongly support the extension of the MOU between the US and Peru as an important element of curbing these activities and protecting the cultural patrimony of Andean countries. Respectfully, Elizabeth Klarich, PhD