Two German universities have handed over the human remains of eight people taken during the colonial era to representatives from the Marshall Islands at a ceremony in Göttingen.
The remains had been kept by the universities of Göttingen and Freiburg.
Their return to their place of origin marked the first time that remains have been returned to the republic in the north-western Pacific.
In return, the Marshall Islands delegation presented those attending the ceremony with hair decorations in the form of flowers made of bast fibre, as well as neckties made of the same material.
The remains are destined for burial at a commemoration site on the islands.
Representatives on both sides expressed the hope of future cooperation.
The islands became a German protectorate in 1885 during the imperial period.
In 1906, they were incorporated into the German New Guinea.
The University of Göttingen has been examining its human remains collection since 2020.
It holds more than 1000 such remains and is working to trace their origins.
Previous repatriations have been made to Hawaii and Palau, though only a few dozen remains have been returned so far due to the complexity of the research.
Most of the remains in Göttingen derive from the 18th century.
Some of them were stolen from sacred sites for the purposes of the racial research popular at the time.
Many of them resulted from grave robbing and found their way to the university via trading companies.