Provenance research on the anthropological skull collection in the State Museum Nature and Man Oldenburg (Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg)

Today’s Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, a museum since 1836, received its first ethnographic objects as early as 1841. In 1853, the largest collection of human remains from colonial contexts came into the museum with a total of 14 skulls. During the German colonial period, the museum recorded a rapid increase in the number of objects in accordance with the practice of the time under the director Johannes Martin. This was promoted by private collectors and dealers as well as by other institutions and especially by military personnel.

In the collection, 34 skulls and two plaster casts are known in 2022. According to the 1894 directory “Scelette und Menschenschädel” (Scelette and Human Skulls), 27 skulls and the two plaster casts originate from colonial contexts. Six further skulls and a child’s mummy skull were acquired in the 1960s to 1980s in South America and Peru respectively. The focus here is on questions of the after-effects of colonial ideas and the resulting practice of acquisition.

The overall project goal was the interdisciplinary anthropological and historical research of colonial provenances of human skulls of non-European origin. The aim was to identify the skulls and examine them using non-invasive anthropological methods. From a historical perspective, archival records such as receipt books, correspondence, acquisition and sales lists were evaluated so that, ideally, an approach to the biographies of the people was created by bringing together both strands of research.

In the course of researching the provenances, a dialogue was initiated with the successor states of the regions of origin or their representatives on questions of storage, accessibility and possible restitution. Furthermore, the knowledge gained has contributed to the development and evolution of an attitude towards the subject within the institution itself, which has an impact on and raises awareness of the issue in its outward communication. Results are communicated via the museum’s media, provided they do not involve sensitive data.

(c) Museum Natur und Mensch