Two skulls that were held by Harvard University for over a century have been returned to Brazil, marking the end of a long-standing effort to recover remains used in racist eugenics studies. The repatriations occurred on Wednesday, involving two sets of remains that had been separated from their homeland since the 19th century.
One skull was removed from Salvador, the capital of Bahia, approximately 190 years ago, while the other was taken from Rio de Janeiro about 160 years ago. Both sets of remains were transported to Brazil in padded boxes within reinforced suitcases, accompanied by diplomats, and received in somber ceremonies across both cities.
The individuals are believed to have been Africans or Afro-Brazilians caught in the era of the transatlantic slave trade. Government official Carolina Dias dos Reis, who traveled to Boston to finalize the agreement with Harvard, stated that the move was essential to restoring the dignity of those whose humanity was stripped away in life and death. But nearly a century and a half later, Afro-Brazilians make up the majority of the population while occupying the bottom of every socioeconomic indicator, dominating the statistics on hunger, poverty, gender-based violence and victims of homicides committed by criminals or the police, slavery was abolished in 1888.
The existence of these skulls came to light in 2022, prompting a push for their return from Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. While the process was initially slow, coordination with the Brazilian government in late 2024 accelerated the repatriation. Officials noted that despite political tensions involving international figures like Donald Trump, the transfer proceeded without incident. According to the existence of the skulls was revealed in 2022, and Brazilian researchers sought their repatriation from Harvard, but, They faced a drawn-out process that only moved forward after the Brazilian government became involved in late 2024. Concerns grew that Donald Trump’s sometimes hostile behaviour towards his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, could derail the repatriation, in recent months. If necessary, they will seek authorisation to carry out genetic or dating tests.
The skull from Salvador is thought to belong to a man who participated in the 1835 urban slave revolt, the most significant in Brazilian history. Approximately 600 African Muslims rose up to seize control of the city before being defeated by police, who killed 70 of the rebels. The man died in a hospital and was subsequently sent to Boston by US diplomat Gideon T. Snow. The Bahia Islamic Cultural Centre has referred to him as Arakunrin, the Yoruba word for brother.
Regarding the second skull, historians believe it may have belonged to a woman, given its size relative to typical adult male remains. It was exhumed from the streets of Rio in the 1860s and eventually taken by Walter Hunnewell, a student from a prominent Boston family participating in an expedition led by Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, who was actively documenting physical types to support racist theories.
Historian Bruno Veras suggested the remains likely originated from a cemetery for newly arrived Africans who perished shortly after their arrival in Brazil. Veras emphasized the inherent violence of stealing human remains even within the context of the era’s pseudo-scientific research.
During the repatriation ceremony in Rio, history professor Ivanir dos Santos performed a ritual act by pouring water onto the ground to pay reverence to the ancestors. He noted that for their community, these remains are not mere research objects but individuals whose memory remains alive.
The Brazilian government has committed to burying both individuals with full funeral rites once forensic identification is complete.
Researchers from local universities plan to conduct measurements and microscopic analyses to clarify the identities of the deceased. Diplomat Irina Feisthauer Silveira remarked that while the history of slavery cannot be erased, transparency in acknowledging such past mistakes is a necessary step toward building a more equitable and less violent future. “We need to recover our past as a country, however difficult and violent it was, so that we can understand what we are living through in the present: the consequences and scars of structural racism,” added Reis.
