OUT of public view, in its back rooms and vaults, the Natural History Museum in London is home to some 20,000 items of human remains. Gathered from around the world, some are whole skeletons, others consist of locks of hair or single teeth. Most were stolen from graves and traditional burial sites during the days of empire. Yet repatriation has never been an option for these or any of the other 60,000 items of human remains held in museums in the UK, because British law forbids it.
While the US, Australia and more recently Sweden have taken steps…
