Yale no longer holds the Machu Picchu / Peruvian Incan artifacts that were at the center of the famous dispute; they were all returned to Peru by the end of 2012, so the correct choice from your list is 0 (none of the above) , not 100, 500, 5,000, or 10,000.

What happened to the artifacts?

  • Early 1900s: Explorer Hiram Bingham III took thousands of Inca artifacts (ceramics, bones, metal objects, etc.) from Machu Picchu to Yale on what Peru later insisted was a temporary loan.
  • 2010 agreement: After a long legal and diplomatic dispute, Yale and the Peruvian government signed an accord to return the entire Machu Picchu collection to Peru.
  • 2011–2012 shipments: The artifacts were sent back to Peru in several batches, with the final shipment completed in late 2012 and placed under joint scholarly stewardship at the UNSAAC–Yale International Center for the Study of Machu Picchu and Inca Culture in Cusco.

Why the multiple‑choice answers are misleading

  • Historical estimates said the collection ranged from about 4,000 up to perhaps 40,000 pieces, depending on how fragments were counted.
  • News and university reports around 2010–2012 often talked about “about 5,000 artifacts,” which is likely why 5,000 appears as an answer option in quizzes and homework problems.
  • However, those numbers describe what Yale once held; after the 2010 agreement and the completed returns by 2012, Yale is no longer the long‑term holder of that Machu Picchu Inca collection.

How to answer a quiz or homework question

If the question is clearly written in the present tense (“are still held by Yale”) and refers to the famous Bingham/Machu Picchu collection, the most accurate factual answer today is that Yale holds 0 of those Peruvian Incan artifacts, so none of the listed options is correct.

If, however, the question comes from a textbook or worksheet clearly framed in a past context (for example, describing the situation before the 2010–2012 agreement) and forces you to choose among those four, the intended “classroom” answer is usually 5,000 , because many popular articles summarized the collection that way prior to the full return.

In real‑world, up‑to‑date terms: Yale does not still hold those Machu Picchu Incan artifacts; they are now in Peru under joint academic stewardship.

TL;DR:

  • Historically at Yale: often rounded to “about 5,000” artifacts.
  • Today: returned to Peru; 0 remain at Yale , so none of the four numeric options is currently correct.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.