7 December
2006 - The Australian Government today formally
returned to the Indonesian people an illegally
imported Asmat skull seized in 2005, the Minister
for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian
Campbell, announced today.
Senator Campbell said the Asmat
Skull was being returned under the Protection
of Moveable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.
“The return of this important
cultural item is an excellent example of the Australian
Government helping protect important cultural
heritage items from other countries,” Senator
Campbell said.
“Australia and Indonesia are
committed to working together to conserve and
protect some of the world’s most important cultural
heritage objects.
“The Australian Quarantine and
Inspection Service seized the decorated skull
of the Asmat people from Papua in January 2005
when it was brought into Australia.
“This unique object has been
painted with what appears to be ochre and displays
a braided headband of feathers, a large ornament
similar to boars’ tusks and other ornamentation
including seeds and beads.”
Head hunting was a part of the
culture of the Asmat people of Papua who preserved
the skulls of ancestors. They collected and displayed
the heads of enemies on elaborate carved poles
as symbols of the victories of wars between tribes.
Senator Campbell thanked the
National Museum of Australia which provided extensive
assistance with its conservation and appropriate
packing for transportation.
The Protection of Movable Cultural
Heritage Act 1986 regulates the export of cultural
heritage objects from Australia.
The Act includes provisions
that allow the Australian Government to respond
to official requests from foreign governments
to return a nation’s cultural heritage object
that has been illegally exported.
Other cultural heritage objects
seized through the Act include 10,000 Chinese
fossil fuel pieces which were returned to the
Chinese Government in September 2005 and Ancient
Egyptian funerary artefacts, which were returned
to the Egyptian Government in July 2005.
For more information please
access: www.heritage.gov.au
Rhiannon Keen
