Back to Costa Rica, Not Back Home: The Partial Return of Minor Keith’s Archaeological Collection

One of the most significant cases of archaeological looting in Limón Province, Costa Rica, is the Keith Collection. Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the railroad magnate Minor Keith removed more than 16,000 pieces from lands used for railway construction and later for banana cultivation. A century later, the Brooklyn Museum returned 3,000 pieces—the first and most extensive voluntary repatriation Costa Rica has received from a foreign institution. The Museo Nacional de Costa Rica oversaw the arrival of the shipments and raised awareness of the return through a lecture series and an exhibition (De vuelta a casa, 2011), displaying 152 artifacts from the first shipment. These initiatives highlighted the circumstances that enabled the collection’s removal from the country and examined the roles played by the economy, Minor Keith, huaqueros (looters), and archaeologists. Visitors are encouraged to see the exhibition and critically reflect on the implications of this partial return.