EL PASO, Texas — More than 4,000 archeological artifacts looted from Mexico and seized in the United States have been returned to Mexican authorities in what experts say is one of the largest such repatriations between the countries.

The items returned Thursday mostly date from before European explorers landed in North America and include items from hunter-gatherers in pre-Columbian northern Mexico, such as stones used to grind corn, statues, figurines, and copper hatchets, said Pedro Sanchez, president of the National Archaeological Council of Mexico.