More than a quarter of a million human remains from around the world are currently held in UK museums, in what MPs and archaeologists are calling an uncomfortable legacy of the country’s colonial past. Not only this, but many of the items are reportedly being stored in ways that are disrespectful or even sacrilegious. An investigation by the Guardian found that British museums collectively hold more than 263,000 items of human remains, ranging from complete skeletons and preserved bodies like Egyptian mummies to skulls, bones, skin, teeth, nails, scalps, and hair. Related Articles Freedom of information requests revealed that roughly 37,000 of those remains are known to have come from overseas, including thousands taken from former British colonies. For another 16,000 items, museums simply don’t know where they came from. Among the remains with known origins outside Europe, the largest share comes from Africa, with 11,856 items, followed by 9,550 from Asia, 3,252 from Oceania, 2,276 from North America, and 1,980 from South America. London’s Natural History Museum holds the largest collection of non-European human …