Two skulls believed to have belonged to enslaved people returned to Brazil on Wednesday, ending more than a century of absence from their homeland after being used in racist eugenic studies at Harvard University.
The remains—taken from Salvador, Bahia, about 190 years ago and from Rio de Janeiro around 160 years ago—are among the few known physical traces linked to Afro-Brazilian individuals during the transatlantic slave trade. The country that received the most enslaved Africans through this system is now seeking to reclaim these artifacts as part of its historical reckoning with slavery.
Historical Context: Slavery and Its Legacy
Slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, yet nearly a century later, Afro-Brazilians remain disproportionately represented at the bottom end of socioeconomic indicators—dominating statistics on hunger, poverty, gender-based violence, and homicides by police or criminals. This ongoing structural inequality has been cited repeatedly by Brazilian officials and researchers as evidence of how deeply entrenched past systems continue to shape present realities.
The repatriation process began when researchers first identified the skulls’ existence in 2022. A formal request for return followed, but progress stalled until late 2024, when the Brazilian government intervened directly with Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
One Skull: Arakunrin, a Rebel from Bahia
In 1835, approximately 600 African Muslims attempted to seize control of Salvador—then Brazil's second-largest city—in what is considered one of the most significant urban slave revolts in history. The uprising was suppressed by police forces that killed at least 70 rebels. One man involved in this revolt died later at a hospital; his skull is believed to have been sent to Boston by U.S. diplomat Gideon T Snow.
The Bahia Islamic Cultural Centre has named him Arakunrin, meaning 'brother' in Yoruba—a name reflecting both cultural identity and resistance against dehumanization under slavery.
The Other Skull: A Possible Woman from Rio’s Cemeteries
Limited information exists about the second individual, initially described only as someone exhumed from ‘the streets of Rio de Janeiro’ during the 1860s. Brazilian officials confirmed that Harvard researchers indicated certain features—such as a skull smaller than an adult male but larger than a child—suggest it may have belonged to a woman.
Historian Bruno Veras has cross-referenced diaries, letters, and maps suggesting this person might have been buried in one of Rio's cemeteries for newly arrived Africans who did not survive the Atlantic crossing or died shortly after disembarking.
The Role of Harvard’s Eugenics Research
In the late 19th century, Harvard professor Louis Agassiz led expeditions into Brazil with students such as Walter Hunnewell—a member of a wealthy Boston family. The goal was to document physical traits allegedly supporting racist theories about human origins and racial hierarchy.
‘To steal a skull and take it to another country was violent even in the context of racist research,’ said Veras. This act—of removing human remains from their place of origin for scientific study without consent—is now recognized by scholars as part of a broader pattern of colonial violence and epistemic injustice.
The Path Forward
Brazilian researchers will conduct forensic analyses on both skulls: measurements, microscopic studies, and potentially genetic or dating tests—with authorization where necessary. The skull from Salvador is complete; that from Rio lacks its jawbone.
Neither skull will be displayed publicly, nor will images be released. As pledged by Brazilian authorities, the individuals’ remains will be buried with funeral rites once identification efforts are concluded.
‘This history of slavery cannot be undone,’ said Irina Feisthauer Silveira, a diplomat who carried one of the skulls. ‘But acknowledging the mistakes of the past with transparency is a first step towards building a more equal, just and less violent future.’
The repatriation ceremony in Rio de Janeiro included a ritual act: historian Ivanir dos Santos, a professor and cleric of Candomblé, poured water on the ground as researchers received the suitcase. He described it not merely as an academic recovery but as a gesture of reverence—'you cannot deal with the remains of our ancestors without paying homage to them.' For many Afro-Brazilians, that person is still alive in memory and lineage.