Thousands of human remains are stored in Germany's University of Göttingen, many from Indigenous Pacific communities. But returning the bodies isn't an easy task.
abc.net.au/news/german-university-works-with-palau-to-return-skulls-remains/101791768There are 10 human skulls stored at a German university that McMichael Mutok Jr wants to bring home.
"There were 10 [skulls] in the collections. But there were 12 index cards that correspond to Palau," he said.Mr Mutok Jr doesn't know where the two missing skulls might be, and fears many more of his country's ancestral remains are hidden in museums and universities in Germany.Skulls, human remains kept in German university
Most are from Africa and the Pacific region – including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Palau.Despite being in charge of preserving Palau's history and cultural artefacts, Mr Mutok Jr and his colleagues had no idea their country's ancestral remains had been shipped overseas. "Paul Hambruch actually went to one of these villages [in Palau], and he actually said to the villagers that he needed a couple of skulls," Mr Mutok Jr said.
"What I learned is that skulls were collected because they were trying to compare the brain capacity between the Germans and the Islanders to see how intelligent they were," Mr Mutok Jr said.Scientists from Germany were collecting the skulls from around the world to categorise human anatomy as a part of "race science" to analyse differences between nationalities.
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