Pucará figurine

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The Pucará figurine in the Bern Historical Museum

The so-called Pucará figurine (usually referred to in the media as the Ekeko stone figure or Ekeko for short ) is an approximately 2000 year old figurine from Tiwanaku in today's Bolivia . It is one of the best preserved and most beautiful products of the Pukara culture . The name "Ekeko stone figure" comes from the fact that there are voices that it is about the deity Ekeko (deity of abundance and prosperity of the Aymara ). However, this is doubted from the scientific side. A cultural dispute broke out between Bolivia and the "Ekeko case"Switzerland , where the figurine was exhibited in the Bernisches Historisches Museum since 1929 . The cultural property dispute became a famous case of looted art and led to diplomatic resentment between the two countries.

Basic data

The anthropomorphic figure is a roughly 15.5 cm tall, rounded (most likely female) stone figure. It is made in the Pucará style (around 200 BC to 200 AD). The most important site of this pre-Inca culture is on the northwest side of Lake Titicaca in what is now Peru . Just like the Tiwanaku style, a characteristic of the Pucará style is the high degree of stylization of the figures of people and mythical beings and the preference for abstract geometric motifs.

History of the figure

The Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi , who significantly shaped the Swiss perception of slavery and described blacks and indigenous peoples as inferior, brought the figure into his possession in Tiwanacu near the historic ruins of Tiwanaku in 1858 . In his diaries he described how he sold the figurine to its owner, who was not aware of the figure's cultural and historical value. At first he refused to sell the figurine, but after he "[...] had received a large glass of cognac from my travel companions , his courtesy and willingness to serve knew no bounds"; finally «[…] they took the initiative already completely drunk and when we were already in the saddle, the deal came off. I paid quickly, put the idol in the saddlebag ». After he had "bought" the figurine from the local owner using cognac as a means of persuasion, von Tschudi quickly left Tiwanacu. Subsequently, a tumult broke out among the indigenous population, as some indigenous people felt cheated and angry because of the "purchase". They chased von Tschudi and his companions while drunk, but could no longer catch up with him. Tschudi's descendants sold the Pucará figurine to the Bern Historical Museum in 1929 .

presentation

What exactly the stone figure represents is controversial. It is probably a female person with a textile cloak, pigtails in the shape of a snake falling back and a frog motif on her back.

Bolivia repeatedly stated that the figure represented the male deity Ekeko , a deity of the abundance and prosperity of the Aymara . The Bernisches Historisches Museum replied that only one Bolivian author in 1969 interpreted this figure as a representation of Ekeko in the scientific literature. This one author is the pioneer archaeologist Carlos Ponce Sanginés (1925–2005). Ponce gives the Tiwanaku ruins as the origin of the figurine .

According to archaeologists, the figurine is not Ekeko from a stylistic and cultural point of view. Tschudi reported in his diaries that the original owners did not worship the figure as Ekeko, but as a protective deity against thieves.

Diplomatic dispute

The figure had been in the Bernisches Historisches Museum since 1929 as one of the many exhibits in the permanent exhibition “Diversity of Cultures in America”. Bolivia's Ambassador Elizabeth Cristina Salguero Carrillo was made aware of the figure by her Ministry of Decolonization. After the ex-president of Bolivia Evo Morales made “the Ekeko” a matter of state, a Bolivian delegation paid a visit to the Bern Museum. They were accompanied by two spiritual people from the Aymara people . A few months later, Bolivia's foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, made an emotional statement in favor of the return of "Ekeko". He said: «The Ekeko is part of our spirituality […]. The people weep for their absence. Not only President Morales, but the whole people, all indigenous people, the whole continent, everyone wants the return of the Ekeko. "

The Bolivian decolonization ministry and representatives of the indigenous peoples announced that the stone figure was an ancient representation of the deity Ekeko. The Bernisches Historisches Museum replied that only one Bolivian author interpreted the figurine as a representation of Ekeko in the specialist scientific literature. Well-known experts have stated that the figure does not represent the male deity Ekeko, but a female person. Bolivia's ex-president Evo Morales said that the figure was an example of the fact that Bolivia was robbed not only of its natural resources, but also of its indigenous cultural assets during the colonial era .

In 2014, following massive political pressure from the Bolivian government, the Bernisches Historisches Museum handed over the stone figure to the Bolivian National Museum of Archeology in La Paz ( Museo Nacional de Arqueología de Bolivia ). Evo Morales then announced: “Before Ekeko came to Switzerland, this country had no wealth . Ekeko came to Switzerland and the country got rich. Now our Ekeko is coming back to Bolivia and we are returning to the wealth of our ancestors. Our deity of Ekeko returns after 157 years, our deity of abundance, the energy of abundance; she was kidnapped, she lived in exile , she was imprisoned in Europe. "

In the following, both museums announced a close collaboration in the areas of conservation , research and education with regard to the figure . In addition, it was agreed that the figure in La Paz received greater attention from both the population and scientists than in Bern .

After the figure was returned, the indigenous people of La Paz celebrated it in the streets. Hundreds of Bolivians attended a ceremony.

Social discussion

According to Silvia Süess ( WOZ ), the "Ekeko case" raises the question of whether religiously used objects such as the Ekeko should be returned to the ethnic group by which they are venerated or to the nation as their legal successor . According to the director of the museum at the time, Jakob Messerli, the "Ekeko case" was not a precedent, as the Bern museum did not recognize that the stone figure was actually a representation of the deity Ekeko.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Fux: Archeology Switzerland – worldwide: Potential and challenges of a comparative archeology: a study with scientific theory bases and empirical project examples with Bhutan and Peru. Dissertation University of Zurich (2019)
  2. ↑ a b The dispute about the Ekeko figure flares up again. Berner Zeitung , January 18, 2015, accessed on December 29, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Ekeko has arrived - and has to go straight on. Der Bund , November 19, 2014, accessed on December 29, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Bolivia celebrates Ekeko. Der Bund , January 25, 2015, accessed on December 29, 2020 .
  5. ↑ "Ekeko" figure back in Bolivia. Archeology Online, October 30, 2014, accessed December 29, 2020 .
  6. ^ A b Balz Oertli: Looted art from Africa: National strategy required. Swiss radio and television , September 21, 2020, accessed on December 29, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b c Peter Fux: Archeology Switzerland – worldwide: Potential and challenges of a comparative archeology: a study with scientific theoretical principles and empirical project examples with Bhutan and Peru. Diss. University of Zurich (2019), p. 23.
  8. ↑ Margaret Young-Sánchez: Tiwanaku: Ancestors of the Inca. (2004), p. 90.
  9. ↑ a b c d Timo Kollbrunner: “Our Ekeko wants to go home”. WOZ Die Wochenzeitung , April 17, 2014, accessed on December 30, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Peter Fux: Archeology Switzerland – worldwide: Potential and challenges of a comparative archeology: a study with scientific theory bases and empirical project examples with Bhutan and Peru. Diss. University of Zurich (2019), p. 24.
  11. ↑ Stories of Robbery and Violence. WOZ Die Wochenzeitung , October 30, 2014, accessed on December 29, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Peter Fux: Archeology Switzerland – worldwide: Potential and challenges of a comparative archeology: a study with scientific theory bases and empirical project examples with Bhutan and Peru. Dissertation University of Zurich (2019)
  13. ↑ Swiss television SRF Tagesschau: Bolivia's Foreign Minister insists on the return of the "Ekeko figure" . Tagesschau from April 11, 2014, 7:30 p.m., accessed on December 30, 2020.
  14. ↑ Ekeko has arrived. Tagesanzeiger , November 18, 2014, accessed December 29, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Peter Fux: Archeology Switzerland – worldwide: Potential and challenges of a comparative archeology: a study with scientific theoretical principles and empirical project examples with Bhutan and Peru. Diss. University of Zurich (2019), p. 25 ff.
  16. ↑ The Bern Museum returns the Ekeko to Bolivia. Der Bund , October 30, 2015, accessed on December 29, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Silvia Süess: Stories of Robbery and Violence. WOZ Die Wochenzeitung , May 15, 2014, accessed on December 30, 2020 .