The artefacts have been on display at Pitt Rivers Museum for 138 years and are believed to have been smuggled to England during colonial times.
The discovery was made by a local scholar, Mr Samuel Sankiriaki: “I was at the museum in 2017 and I was shocked to discover some Maasai artefacts and from their captions, they indicated where they were from. I questioned how they found themselves there.”
He said the artefacts had been used commercially for the past century while the owners languished in poverty.
The artefacts include Enkononkoi (men’s necklace) worn by elders, Emonyorit (women’s necklace), Isikira (headgear for girl initiates) and Isutia (special necklace). He said there were 100 Maasai artefacts but the five were the most ‘sensitive’.
