Provenance research on unidentified human remains in the Osteological Collection of the University of Tübingen

Several academic institutions across the state of Baden-Württemberg (southwest Germany) have jointly initiated a systematic investigation of human remains in their collections that are presumed to originate from Africa’s colonial past. The project aims to compile historical and biological information on these remains and to establish sustainable structures for data exchange among participating institutions. In doing so, it seeks to create a foundation for future large-scale network research and to lay the groundwork for potential repatriation processes. Within this framework, we conducted a non-invasive, morphology-based biological anthropological analysis of 83 unidentified human crania housed in the Osteological Collection of the University of Tübingen. No contextual information is associated with these individuals apart from the indication that they are of recent non-European origin, making them potentially relevant to the project. The skulls were formerly stored at the Anatomical Institute Tübingen and were transferred to the newly founded collection in the mid-1930s. For each individual, we created a biological profile comprising estimates of age-at-death, sex, and ancestry, the latter assessed using three forensic computer programs: FORDISC, AncesTrees, and hefneR. Age-at-death estimates indicated a predominance of early adults within the assemblage, with both younger and older individuals increasingly underrepresented. Morphological sex determination showed a predominance of male individuals, whereas metric methods suggested a higher proportion of females. Ancestry estimates generated by the three programs consistently identified Africa as the primary region of origin, followed by Asia, with only a few individuals classified as originating from the Americas, Oceania, or Europe. Among the individuals for whom all three programs produced ancestry results, only 21 were consistently assigned to the same continental group: 20 to Africa and one to Asia. We consider these 21 individuals as the most reliably classified within the assemblage, as combining multiple approaches based on different datasets increases confidence in ancestry estimation. We discuss possible scenarios regarding their geographic origins and the pathways through which these remains may have entered the collection. Overall, this study highlights the complementary value of biological anthropology within interdisciplinary provenance research, particularly in cases where archival documentation is absent.