Yale to return Inca artefacts to Peru

Yale University has signed an agreement with a university in Peru to return thousands of Inca artefacts taken from the Machu Picchu citadel nearly 100 years ago.

Yale and Peru officials announced in November that they had resolved a long dispute over the artefacts. The agreement, announced yesterday, creates a centre at San Antonio Abad University in Cuzco, where the materials will be housed under the universities' joint direction.

The centre, located in an Inca palace, will include a museum for the public and a research area for collaborative investigations by the two institutions and visiting scholars. The artefacts include ceramic pieces, animal and human bones, and metal and stone objects.