The theft and sale of antiquities has become a potent issue in parts of the world other than Italy, shaped in each case by circumstances distinct from those now affecting California's J. Paul Getty Museum.

This week, the government of Peru warned Yale University that it will be sued unless the institution returns artifacts excavated nearly a century ago from the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu.

Famed U.S. explorer Hiram Bingham (who was from Hawai'i by the way) exported nearly 5,000 objects and remains with government permission following his 1911, 1912 and 1914 excavations, but never returned them by the 1916 deadline.

In Hawai'i, the movement to reclaim cultural treasures, burial remains and the possessions placed with the bones arose long after most of these objects ended up in museums and other collections, largely as a result of looting.

The movement was enabled by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as well as Hawai'i statutes aimed at according respect to Native Hawaiian burials encountered during urban developments where villages once stood.

However, the financial lure of the illicit trade persists. A recent documentary by private investigator and former broadcast journalist Matt Levi and filmmaker Edgy Lee argued for a link between the crystal methamphetamine drug epidemic and thefts of artifacts from Hawaiian burial sites.

And last year, burial objects surfaced on the Big Island market, objects that had been repatriated under the federal law. An investigation ensued but 16 months later, no charges have resulted.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com.