The Guardian found that UK museums hold more than 263,000 items of human remains from around the world, including whole skeletons, preserved bodies, such as Egyptian mummies, skulls, bones, skin, teeth, nails, scalps and hair.
Responses to freedom of information (FoI) requests from the Guardian revealed that 37,000 items of human remains are known to originate from overseas, including thousands from former British colonies. The countries of origin of another 16,000 items are unknown.
Of the 28,914 items of human remains known to originate from outside Europe, 11,856 were identified as coming from Africa, 9,550 from Asia, 3,252 from Oceania, 2,276 from North America, and 1,980 from South America.
The vast number of overseas human remains held by UK museums is a shameful legacy of colonialism, with many items kept in ways that are sacrilegious, according to MPs and archaeologists.
The institution with the largest collection of non-European human remains is the Natural History Museum in London, with at least 11,215 items. It has the largest collections of remains from Asia and North and South America.
The University of Cambridge has the second largest, with at least 8,740 items in its Duckworth laboratory, including the biggest collection (6,223) of remains known to originate from Africa.
Of the 241 museums, universities and councils that hold human remains, only 100 disclosed an exact or estimated number of individuals represented in their collections, totalling around 79,334 people. The remainder said they did not know.
Dan Hicks, who analysed the FoI responses, said the findings showed many museums were failing to follow the government guidance to treat human remains respectfully. It advised institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that human remains should be
- “stored separately and handled respectfully in controlled, monitored environments”.
Meghan Backhouse, the chair of the Museum Ethnographers Group (MEG)—which acts as an interface between museums and community stakeholders—told The Art Newspaper:
- “The significant number of ancestors held in UK museums is extremely distressing and symbolic of the colonial origins of these collections. We hope that the responses gathered by The Guardian will be shared with the relevant communities to support them in bringing their ancestors home.”
A spokesperson for the Natural History Museum said:
- “We always acknowledge that the museum was founded within the context of empire, colonialism and exploration, and, as a result, the hallmarks of this legacy exist in our collections.”
They added:
- “To date, our trustees have agreed to return 580 individuals to countries including Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and the USA. The museum has not refused to return any remains for which connections have been established with requesting communities and places of origin.”
