Continuing coverage of the fact that Brighton’s Booth Museum of Natural History have decided not to return an artefact that is made from human remains. The Australian government is now intervening in the issue, in the hope of finding a way of settling the issue.

From:
Canberra Times

British council reluctant to release Aboriginal skull
17/02/2009 10:39:00 AM

The Australian government has intervened in a bid to get an Aboriginal skull returned to Australia and avoid a potential diplomatic row.

Museum bosses in England want to keep the skull, which has been turned into a water carrier, because it is extremely rare.
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More coverage on the decision by Brighton’s Booth Museum of Natural History against returning an Aboriginal artefact that involves human remains. It is important to recall, that whilst the Human Tissue Act allows Museums to return artefacts involving human remains where they would otherwise not be allowed to, there is nothing in the act that says they have to return such pieces. On the other hand, in most cases, artefacts have eventually been returned, so any institution that is not doing so is making a concious decision to go against what has become the currently accepted practise.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

UK museum wants to keep Aboriginal relic
February 11, 2009 – 2:29PM

A rare Aboriginal relic is expected to stay in an English museum despite fears it could spark an Australian backlash.

Brighton and Hove City Council plans to keep a water carrier made from a human skull that has been stored in a museum in Brighton, a coastal city south of London, since 1925.
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Despite promising news from a museum in Brighton about the return of some artefacts involving human remains, it now appears that there are certain exclusions.

From:
The Argus (Brighton)

Rare aboriginal relic to stay in Brighton
12:30pm Monday 9th February 2009
By Lawrence Marzouk, Local Government Correspondent

An extremely rare aboriginal relic is expected to stay in a Brighton museum despite fears it could spark an Australian backlash.

Brighton and Hove City Council plans to keep a water carrier made from a human skull that has been stored in the city since 1925.
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Further coverage of yet another decision to return Aboriginal remains to Australia by a British institution.

From:
International Herald Tribune

British museum to return Aboriginal remains
The Associated Press
Published: January 8, 2009

LONDON: Local officials say a British museum has agreed to return two Aboriginal skulls and thigh bones to Australia.

Council officials in Brighton, southern England, say the remains are due to be taken back to Australia but has not said when. They say the Australian government has agreed to meet the bill for their transport.
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Yet another return of human remains from a UK museum to an Australian aboriginal community. A sign that where there is a will to do so, Museums & other institutions are able to see the requirement to return artefacts to their original owners.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

UK to return more Aboriginal remains
January 7, 2009 – 6:52PM

Another set of Aboriginal remains held at a British museum for almost a century are to be returned to Australia.

Two skulls and two thigh bones kept by the Booth Museum of Natural History, in Brighton, East Sussex, are expected to be repatriated within days.
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