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A Skull Collection Revisited

From Colonial Resistance to Repatriation

Skull room

Hundreds of skulls from Scotland, the rest of the United Kingdom and countries around the world were collected for study by both the Edinburgh Phrenological Society and the University in the 19th century. The Anatomical Museum still holds over 1800 of these skulls.

Except for phrenology supporters who volunteered their remains, these skulls were taken, without consent, from prisons, asylums, hospitals, archaeological sites and battlefields. Doctors, military personnel, archaeologists, explorers and University graduates working abroad were actively involved in the theft and exportation of human remains. Like many similar collections in UK universities, most skulls came from the British Empire’s colonies or through their global networks.

Phrenology and Colonial Warfare

The relationship between colonial violence and scientific racism was mutually beneficial. Not only were phrenology and related pseudosciences used to define racial categories and hierarchies in the 19th century, but they also depended on colonial violence for the skulls needed to conduct their investigations.

Phrenology model used by slave-owner Dr Charles Caldwell

Creator Dr Charles Caldwell
Date 1866

Title: Phrenology model used by slave-owner Dr Charles Caldwell
Creator Dr Charles Caldwell
Date 1866
Object reference Anatomy Collection: AM6898
Material Plaster

For the first time dedicated research in 2021 highlights stories of people whose remains were stolen from Africa. Drawing on museum documentation - which often works to erase the identities of the individuals whose remains it should record - key findings from this study link the University, its network, and collection directly with British colonization of Africa and the continued oppression and enslavement of African people.

Use the arrows to discover a selection of these stories.

Stories from the African Skull Collection

Creator Research by Daisy Chamberlain
Date 2021

Daisy Chamberlain has a degree in History from the University of Edinburgh and is currently completing a Masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. You can read more about Daisy's research into the collection of African skulls in a series of blog posts on the Anatomical Museum blog.

Title: Stories from the African Skull Collection
Creator Research by Daisy Chamberlain
Date 2021
Creator Illustration by Sophie Powell-Hall
Date 2021
Credit / Usage information © Sophie Powell-Hall

Reconstructing the Caribbean's last pirate

Skulls in the collection of the Anatomical Museum that originally interested phrenologists are today studied in other ways. Since 2015 they have been used for facial reconstruction projects by students from the Centre for Anatomy & Human Identification (CAHID) at the University of Dundee.

Composite reconstruction of Pepe El Mallorquin

Creator Emily McCulloch
Date 2015

Title: Composite reconstruction of Pepe El Mallorquin
Creator Emily McCulloch
Date 2015
Credit / Usage information © Emily McCulloch

The notoriety of Spanish pirate José Rivas (known as Pepe El Mallorquin) is what intrigued phrenologists to collect his remains. Described as the ‘last pirate of the Caribbean’, Pepe plundered Spanish and British ships as they passed by Cuba on their way to and from their American colonies. In 1822, Pepe died during a crackdown on piracy. His death and the increased British naval presence signalled an end to pirate activity in the area.

Through Britain’s colonial network, Pepe’s skull was brought to Scotland. Captain Graham of the Royal Navy transported it to Edinburgh and gave it to his brother Professor Graham, a Professor of Botany and Medicine at Edinburgh University. It was then presented to the Anatomical Museum where it was used for Phrenological study.

Skull cast of Pepe El Mallorquin

Date c.1831
Place of creation Edinburgh

Plaster casts allowed different phrenologists to examine Pepe’s skull, but they failed to agree on their findings in the popular Phrenological Journal. One suggested Pepe’s ‘organ of destructiveness’ was remarkably small for a pirate, while others claimed it was very well developed. According to his analysis, Dr Gasper Spurzheim suggested the skull showed ‘Acquisitiveness strong on right hand side (Highway character)’ and ‘Constructiveness extremely small; would never succeed in the Arts’.

Title: Skull cast of Pepe El Mallorquin
Date c.1831
Place of creation Edinburgh
Object reference Anatomy Collection: AM4585
Material Plaster

Leading a crew of 40 men and driving away other privateers and pirates from nearby British colonies in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, Pepe would have been a fearsome adversary for Spanish and British colonial ships before his death. Emily McCulloch, a Forensic Art and Facial Identification MSc student in 2015, used her degree project to bring the face of this formidable pirate back to life.

Reconstruction of Pepe El Mallorquin

Creator Emily McCulloch
Date 2015
Place of creation CAHID (Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee)

Title: Reconstruction of Pepe El Mallorquin
Creator Emily McCulloch
Date 2015
Place of creation CAHID (Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee)
Credit / Usage information © Emily McCulloch

The diversity of skulls in the collection are a valuable resource for students like Emily, giving them an opportunity to develop skills they can later use to help identify remains from archaeological digs or work within forensic units in the police force. Using a combination of 3D photography, existing tissue data for a young European and her own artistic licence, Emily shares the process involved in reconstructing Pepe and her experience working with the collection.

Reconstructing Pepe El Mallorquin

Creator Emily McCulloch
Date 2021
Place of creation CAHID (Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee)

Title: Reconstructing Pepe El Mallorquin
Creator Emily McCulloch
Date 2021
Place of creation CAHID (Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee)
Transcription

Hi there! I’m Emily McCulloch, a freelance Forensic Artist and Illustrator. I studied Forensic Art and Facial Identification at the University of Dundee.

As part of the final exhibition of my Masters course I got access to the Edinburgh Anatomical Museum’s collection and was able to work on the reconstruction of Pepe El Mallorquin, A Spanish pirate who resided in the Isle of Pines near Cuba in 1822. I was lucky to get access to the collection, which consisted of a number of different skulls. I was particularly drawn to Pepe because of the phrenological studies that had been carried out on his skull, as well as his very prominent nasal bridge.

When starting on the project I first needed to decide what method I wanted to use. I could reconstruct the face in 3D using clay or silicone, or I could do a 2D reconstruction either drawn traditionally or in Photoshop. I ultimately decided to create a 3D reconstruction but digitally using 3D scanning and modeling. To start I needed to take scans of the skull using a 3D scanner. The scanning was done in sections with the skull later reassembled digitally. From there the reassembled skull was taken into the 3D modeling program Freeform Geomagic where the reconstruction process could begin in earnest. At this stage I would take note of Pepe’s estimated age, his gender, and his ethnicity in order to approximate the depth of the soft tissue. From there it was then a case of taking into account the various landmarks and features of the skull to approximate the shape of his various facial features for example: nose shape and length, Lip thickness, eyebrow shape and so on.

After the reconstruction was complete I was able to use some artistic license for the features that cannot be determined from Pepe’s skull. I decided to give him long brown hair, befitting of a man of the seas of that era, as well as neutral hazel eyes. From there I decided to have the completed digital reconstruction 3D printed so he could feature as a physical object in the final exhibition. The 3D bust of Pepe still keeps me company to this day, sitting proudly in my living room, now very much a part of the furniture.

Working on Pepe’s reconstruction led me to seek out more archaeological reconstructions projects. Soon after graduating I worked on a number of 2D facial reconstructions. I worked with the Museum of Edinburgh reconstructing the faces of people from the 15th- 16th century whose remains were excavated from areas around Leith when the tram lines were being constructed. I also worked on the reconstruction of a Bronze Age farmer, nicknamed ‘Torbrex Tam’, for the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum. It was through working with the Edinburgh Anatomical Museum I realised just how many skulls exist in museum collections, waiting to have a small piece of their identity rediscovered.

A ceremonial return

Since 1947 the University has been returning skulls. In 2019 the University returned nine skulls taken from Sri Lanka during the British colonial period in the 1880s, including three skulls originally collected for the study of phrenology by the Reverend George Lyon, presented to the University in 1827. The repatriation took place following a collaborative research project led by Wanniyalaeto Vedda elders. A minority indigenous group, the Vedda are thought to be the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka. Today they are under threat of eviction, and wild game hunting, a traditional subsistence and cultural activity, is illegal.

Wanniya Uruwarige, Chief of Vedda

Creator David Cheskin
Date 2019
Place of creation Edinburgh, Scotland

The Vedda historically occupied villages across Sri Lanka, including within the Wet Zone rainforests. British colonial policy, and the development of Sri Lankan state education systems and legal orders, led to their decline and focus on more open, dry jungle settings.

Title: Wanniya Uruwarige, Chief of Vedda
Creator David Cheskin
Date 2019
Place of creation Edinburgh, Scotland
Credit / Usage information © David Cheskin

The genetic material held in historic skulls can reveal new information about diet, population movement and disease in historic populations. Vedda elders, working with scientists at the Max Plank Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, supervised stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel powder taken from the skulls at the museum. The results show Vedda ancestors relied primarily on tropical forest resources in the late 19th century. This proves their diet relied on traditional forest areas, supporting current Vedda arguments for legalised access to traditional lands and hunting.

Vedda skull from Sri Lanka

Creator David Cheskin
Date 1915
Place of creation Sri Lanka, South Asia

Published in the Human Ecology journal, the resulting paper is one of the few to list Indigenous elders as supervising authors in Archaeological Science. It is hoped that this work will provide a platform for Indigenous communities seeking a more active role in the protection of their cultural and natural heritage. The full paper is available through Open Access on Springer.

Title: Vedda skull from Sri Lanka
Creator David Cheskin
Date 1915
Place of creation Sri Lanka, South Asia
Credit / Usage information © David Cheskin

Since the repatriation, the Vedda community and the University continue to work together. The Vedda are now developing a museum of their own to be the final resting place for their ancestors. It will tell the story of the research and return of the skulls from Edinburgh.

Principal Peter Mathieson with Wanniya Uruwarige, Chief of Vedda

Creator David Cheskin
Date 2019
Place of creation Edinburgh, Scotland

Title: Principal Peter Mathieson with Wanniya Uruwarige, Chief of Vedda
Creator David Cheskin
Date 2019
Place of creation Edinburgh, Scotland
Credit / Usage information © David Cheskin

This exhibition spotlights the work of academics, curators, students and artists to uncover and confront this colonial collection over the past decade, but this work is incomplete. New projects continue to dig deeper to understand the impact of phrenology in Edinburgh and abroad, and its lingering influence in other racial sciences.

In the next section, you can explore an artist's response to this exhibition and collection by Tayo Adekunle.

You can also discover more information about ongoing research with the collection at the University on the Anatomical Museum’s blog.