Human skull featuring elaborate mosaic ornamentation repatriated to Mexico

A Mixtec human skull decorated with turquoise, shell, jadeite, and quartz—displayed for more than 60 years at the Wereldmuseum in Leiden—was repatriated to Mexico in May 2025 and is now in the custody of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The skull was acquired in 1964 by museum director Pieter Hendrik Pott from American dealer Robert Stolper without provenance and was believed to date to the Late Postclassic Period (AD 1300–1521), but analyses conducted in 2011–12 and published in 2013 by archaeologist Martin Berger found the mosaic to be largely a modern assembly (with 99% modern adhesive) using pre-Hispanic materials. The restitution followed advocacy by the Nchivi Ñuu Savi collective and artist Daniel Aguilar Ruvalcaba, though Dutch approval came after a separate Mexican government request in December 2024; 1,020 residents of Tututepec petitioned INAH to display the ancestor at the Yucu Saa Community Museum in Villa de Tututepec, Oaxaca, its planned final destination. INAH said further study, potentially including radiocarbon dating, may be conducted.

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