A Scottish university that has vowed to decolonise its curriculum has nearly 200 skulls of indigenous people in its possession.
The University of Aberdeen holds at least 101 craniums and 97 full skulls belonging to non-European ethnic groups, such as aboriginal Australians, Pacific islanders and native Americans.
The skulls held at Marischal College were acquired during colonial conquests in the 19th and 20th centuries to support a now-discredited theory that black and indigenous people were inferior to white people. About 100 remains of European origin are also held by the university.
The number of items, disclosed after a request made under the Freedom of Information Act, reveals the extent of the institution’s collection, previously believed to be just nine skulls.
