The Natural History Museum in London and Cambridge University have stated that they are willing to work with Zimbabwe to return human remains taken during the colonial era. The new statements come after a Zimbabwean delegation met with officials from both institutions.
Zimbabweans are looking for the skulls of late-nineteenth-century anti-colonial heroes, which they believe are in the United Kingdom. However, these have yet to be discovered. Authorities in Zimbabwe have long suspected that the remains of some of the leaders of the First Chimurenga uprising against British rule in the 1890s were taken to the UK as trophies.
The most important of these was a woman known as Mbuya Nehanda. She was executed in Harare, Zimbabwe’s current capital, and is regarded as a national hero.