News item | 12-12-2024 | 7:35 PM
At the request of Mexico, Minister Bruins (OCW) has decided to transfer a human skull from the National Collection of the Wereldmuseum to that country. The skull was handed over today by the ministry to the Mexican embassy in The Hague.
The skull was in the collection of the Wereldmuseum in Leiden and was purchased in the 1960s. The skull is probably of Mixtec origin and is inlaid with mosaic stones. Although both the skull and the stones are of an older date, research shows that the glue used dates from the twentieth century. This makes the skull and the mosaic stones a recent composition.
Mexico has requested that the skull be transferred. Although the handling of human remains falls outside the policy framework of colonial collections due to the ethical context, the starting point for specific requests is the return of human remains. The intended transfer decision has previously been published in the Government Gazette, in accordance with the regular procedure under the Heritage Act.
