'The repatriation will reconnect these skulls with their home soil, the history and the local community'
edinburghlive
Date: 1 JUL 2020
By: Joe Smith
Photo of Paiwan people during the Japanese rule of Taiwan taken by Torii Ryūzō (Image: Wikimedia creative commons)
The Taipei Representative Office said it would be a “significant” moment for the country if the university returned the skulls – as it would be the first time human remains had been returned as cultural relics.
“The repatriation will reconnect these skulls with their home soil, the history and the local community,” explained a government official.
The skulls were taken as gruesome trophies by Japanese soldiers during a revenge attack in 1874 and found their way to Edinburgh where they were left to gather dust in a university warehouse. [FULL STORY]
