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Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa—Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine

PLOS ONE · 21 authors, 14 centres

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This paper describes the restitution of nine unethically acquired San/Khoekhoe skeletons (the 'Sutherland Nine') from the University of Cape Town to their descendant families in Sutherland, South Africa, nearly 100 years after their exhumation. Interdisciplinary analyses—including ancient DNA, stable isotopes, osteobiography, and facial reconstruction—revealed details about their lives, deaths, and forced labour on a colonial frontier farm, while the community-driven process prioritized family wishes and reconnection with ancestral heritage. The work establishes a precedent for restitution and redress in South African biological anthropology, contributing to restorative justice and the decolonization of human skeletal repositories.

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**Background:** During the colonial era and into the early 20th century, anatomy departments and museums globally collected Indigenous skeletal remains for racial typological science, often acquired unethically. In South Africa, San and Khoekhoe remains were particularly sought. The University of Cape Town (UCT) Human Skeletal Repository, established in 1913, was found in a 2017 audit to contain nine skeletons donated between 1925–1927 by medical student Carel Gert Coetzee, exhumed from a labourers' cemetery on his family farm Kruisrivier near Sutherland, Northern Cape. Eight individuals were known-in-life with recorded names. A moratorium was placed on access, and a restitution process initiated.

**Methods:** The restitution followed the Aitken community engagement model and Vermillion Accord, beginning with contacting families in Sutherland bearing the surnames Abraham and Stuurman. In October 2018, UCT met descendants and community leaders, issued an unreserved apology, and placed all decisions in the families' hands. The families requested comprehensive study before reburial. A multidisciplinary team conducted: archaeological survey of the farm cemetery; osteobiographic analysis (age, sex, stature, pathology, trauma); craniofacial CT-based reconstruction and depiction; ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis including mitochondrial and Y-chromosome haplogroups, kinship assessment, and population genetic comparisons; and stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of serial dentine and bone samples. Informed consent was obtained from families, with ethics approval from UCT (HREC# 715/2017).

**Key Results:** The nine individuals comprised six males and three females. Ages-at-death ranged from 4–6 years (G!ae) to 50+ years (Voetje). Adult stature ranged from 1.38 m (Saartje) to 1.62 m (Cornelius). All adults showed signs of heavy physical labour (osteoarthritis, enthesopathy). Dental disease was prevalent: 83% (5/6) of adults with crania/mandibles had abscesses. Jannetje, Saartje, and Voetje had extensive dental abscessing likely contributing to death. Two children (G!ae, Saa) and two adults (Saartje, Cornelius) showed childhood stress markers (Harris lines, enamel hypoplasias). Four of five adult men had healed injuries; Klaas and Igue We had perimortem cranial trauma causing death. Jannetje had debilitating platybasia and basilar invagination. Squatting facets (indicating traditional resting posture) were found in four adults. Copper staining from ornaments was present on Cornelius, Jannetje, and Saartje. Radiocarbon dating of Igue We showed death ~709 ± 23 BP (approx. 700 years ago), contradicting the archival record of '40 years ago'. aDNA confirmed all individuals had San/Khoekhoe maternal (L0d lineages) and paternal (A0-T, A, E1b1a) haplogroups. Kinship analysis revealed a 2nd-degree relationship between Saartje and Klaas (half-siblings/double cousins) and a 3rd-degree relationship between Jannetje and both—contradicting the archival claim that Klaas and Saartje were husband and wife and parents of the children. Population genetic analyses showed greatest affinity with Kx'a- and Tuu-speaking Kalahari groups (Ju/'hoansi, Taa, ǂKhomani, Karretjie, /Gui, Naro) with no detectable European/Asian admixture. Ancestry modelling showed 11.2% East African pastoralist-related ancestry, comparable to other San groups. Stable isotope data revealed that Klaas spent early childhood (ages ~3–10) in a different, more summer-rainfall environment before being captured and brought to Kruisrivier, consistent with archival records. Other individuals showed isotopic consistency with lifelong residence near Sutherland.

**Clinical Implications:** While not a clinical study, this work has profound implications for medical ethics, the stewardship of human remains in anatomical collections, and the practice of biological anthropology. It demonstrates a model for community-centred restitution that prioritizes descendant family agency, informed consent, and interdisciplinary science. The process influenced the development of a national South African policy on restitution and repatriation of human remains. The findings highlight the long-term health impacts of forced labour, displacement, malnutrition, and violence on Indigenous populations, and underscore the importance of confronting historical injustices in medical and scientific institutions. The facial reconstructions served as a powerful tool for family reconnection and restoring personhood to individuals previously treated as specimens.

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10208512

Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa—Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine

PLOS ONE

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ABSTRACT

Abstract We describe a process of restitution of nine unethically acquired human skeletons to their families, together with attempts at redress. Between 1925–1927 C.E., the skeletonised remains of nine San or Khoekhoe people, eight of them known-in-life, were removed from their graves on the farm Kruisrivier, near Sutherland in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. They were donated to the Anatomy Department at the University of Cape Town. This was done without the knowledge or permission of their families. The donor was a medical student who removed the remains from the labourers’ cemetery on his family farm. Nearly 100 years later, the remains are being returned to their community, accompanied by a range of community-driven interdisciplinary historical, archaeological and analytical (osteobiographic, craniofacial, ancient DNA, stable isotope) studies to document, as far as possible, their lives and deaths. The restitution process began by contacting families living in the same area with the same surnames as the deceased. The restitution and redress process prioritises the descendant families’ memories, wishes and desire to understand the situation, and learn more about their ancestors. The descendant families have described the process as helping them to reconnect with their ancestors. A richer appreciation of their ancestors’ lives, gained in part from scientific analyses, culminating with reburial, is hoped to aid the descendant families and wider community in [re-]connecting with their heritage and culture, and contribute to restorative justice, reconciliation and healing while confronting a traumatic historical moment. While these nine individuals were exhumed as specimens, they will be reburied as people.

CITATION EXPORT

Victoria E Gibbon, Loretta Feris, Joscha Gretzinger et al.. Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa—Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine. PLOS ONE. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284785

AUTHORS

21 · 14 CENTRES

Victoria E Gibbon, Loretta Feris, Joscha Gretzinger, Kathryn Smith, Simon Hall, Nigel Penn, Tinashe E M Mutsvangwa, Michaela Heale, Devin A Finaughty, Yvonne W Karanja, Jan Esterhuyse, Daniël Kotze, Nina Barnes, Geney Gunston, Je’nine May, Johannes Krause, Caroline M Wilkinson, Stephan Schiffels, Doreen Februarie, Sianne Alves, Judith C Sealy

1Division of Clinical Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
2Department of Public Law, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
3Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
4Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
5Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
6VIZ.Lab, Department of Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch South Africa
7Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
8Department of History, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
9Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
10School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
11University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
12Office for Inclusivity & Change, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Transformation: University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
13Social Work Private Practice, Cape Town, South Africa
14The Cyprus Institute, CYPRUS