The two sets of remains, which were originally exploited in racist eugenics research in the United States, arrived in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro via diplomatic flights for subdued reception ceremonies. Researchers believe one skull belonged to a man who participated in an 1835 urban Muslim slave revolt, while the other likely belonged to a woman taken from a cemetery for newly arrived Africans. Brazil's government has announced that neither skull will be exhibited publicly or photographed. Proper funeral rites will be held for both individuals once local researchers finalize their identification efforts.
Key points
Harvard University held the human remains for well over a century while employing them in…: Harvard University held the human remains for well over a century while employing them in racist scientific studies.
Local researchers in Brazil are actively working to establish the specific historical ide…: Local researchers in Brazil are actively working to establish the specific historical identities of both deceased individuals.
Government officials have prohibited museum displays and confirmed the remains will recei…: Government officials have prohibited museum displays and confirmed the remains will receive proper funeral burials.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Two skulls, including that of a man believed to have taken part in Brazil’s greatest slave revolt but whose remains were taken to the United States and used in racist eugenics studies at Harvard University, were repatriated on Wednesday.
The remains had been outside Brazil since the 19th century. One was taken about 190 years ago from Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia; the other, about 160 years ago, from Rio de Janeiro – and were welcomed back in moving, subdued ceremonies in both cities.
The skulls are believed to have belonged to Africans or Afro-Brazilians in the country that received more enslaved Africans than any other during the transatlantic slave trade.
Each was brought back in a padded box inside a reinforced suitcase, carried on flights by Brazilian diplomats after a four-year campaign to recover the remains from Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in the US.
Brazilian researchers from local universities will now try to learn more about who the two individuals were.
The skulls will not be displayed in museums or have their images…
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