Ancestral Remains
The NMB's anthropological collection contains human skeletons from colonial contexts. These were appropriated under colonial circumstances and collected for the purposes of racial research that has since been disproved. Today, the museum is committed to confronting this troubled history and to critically examining it. The museum ensures that the collection is handled in an ethical manner and supports possible repatriations.
The Natural History Museum Basel (NMB) preserves human skeletons from colonial contexts of around 1,600 individuals in its anthropological collection. These were transferred to the NMB in the 1970s from the formerly Museum für Völkerkunde – today the Museum der Kulturen – and from the Anatomical Institute of the University of Basel. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, these ancestors were taken to Basel for the purposes of racial research and in the context of Switzerland’s colonial entanglements. Research on skulls, skeletons and hair samples served the classification of non-Europeans. These works reflected the racist ideas prevalent in anthropological research around 1900, which served to legitimise colonial power structures. These theories have since been scientifically disproved. Power imbalances in colonial contexts enabled human remains to be excavated, purchased and stolen on every continent.
Today, the NMB sees itself as morally and ethically obliged to critically examine the histories of these human remains. The NMB shares the international consensus that they should not be treated as objects, but as individuals with descendants who have an entitlement to the return of their ancestors (hence the term “Ancestral Remains”). This requires an active engagement with this colonial legacy: creating transparency, conducting provenance research, and engaging in respectful dialogue with descendants to jointly find just and fair solutions. The NMB is open to inquiries and requests for repatriation. In 2024, a first return was completed, and further restitution processes are underway.
Overview of provenances
To provide information about ancestral remains from colonial contexts, a list of provenances compiled by continent and country can be viewed here.
