In a remarkable breakthrough, researchers have successfully identified living relatives in Tanzania of individuals whose skulls were looted and transported to Germany during the colonial era, a development hailed as a “small miracle” by Berlin’s museum authority, as announced on Tuesday.
Berlin’s Museum of Prehistory and Early History initiated a comprehensive research endeavor in 2017 concerning approximately 1,100 skulls originating from the region once referred to as German East Africa. The ultimate objective of this ongoing investigation is to facilitate the repatriation of these remains to their respective countries of origin.
For the first time, DNA analysis has yielded incontrovertible evidence linking these colonial-era skulls with living descendants in Tanzania, according to a statement issued by the SPK museum authority.
“The relatives and the government of Tanzania will now be informed as soon as possible,” the statement affirmed.
These skulls constitute a portion of a larger collection totaling around 7,700, which the SPK obtained from Berlin’s Charite hospital in 2011.
Many of them were originally assembled by Dr. Felix von Luschan, a doctor and anthropologist, during the period of German colonial rule.
Some of the skulls were derived from the anatomical institute of the hospital and are believed to have been plundered from cemeteries and other burial sites worldwide, ostensibly for “scientific” research.
German East Africa encompassed present-day Burundi, Rwanda, mainland Tanzania, and a section of Mozambique.
Among the skulls under examination, researchers at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History were able to compile sufficient information on eight of them to warrant a search for their specific descendants, as per the SPK’s account.
In an extraordinary discovery, one of the skulls bore the title “Akida,” indicating that it belonged to a high-ranking advisor to Mangi Meli, a prominent Chagga leader. A DNA sample from this skull established a direct match with a living descendant of Akida, the SPK disclosed.
Furthermore, two more of the eight skulls examined exhibited nearly identical genetic matches to descendants of the Chagga people.
Hermann Parzinger, president of the SPK, remarked, “Finding a match like this is a small miracle and will probably remain a rare case even despite the most meticulous provenance research.”
Interest in these skulls had waned considerably after World War I, and they were in a state of severe deterioration when acquired by the museum in 2011, the SPK noted.
Prior to launching their research, conducted in collaboration with scientists from Rwanda, the museum undertook the task of cleaning and preserving these historic remains.
In recent decades, Germany has increasingly begun to confront and acknowledge its colonial-era atrocities.
Notably, in what many historians consider the first genocide of the 20th century, Germany was responsible for mass killings of indigenous Herero and Nama people in German South West Africa, now Namibia.
The country has since returned skulls and other human remains to Namibia and officially acknowledged its role in the genocide, pledging financial support to the descendants of the victims.
Germany has also embarked on the restitution of cultural artifacts looted during the colonial era. In 2021, it initiated the return of items from its collection of Benin Bronzes, ancient sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin, to Nigeria.
These metal plaques and sculptures, dating from the 16th to the 18th century, are esteemed as some of the most valuable works of African art and were dispersed among European museums after being looted by the British in the late 19th century.
