Sarawak today welcomed home its 40,000-year-old Gua Niah prehistoric human bones which had been in the United States since the 1960s.

The 122 pieces of bone fragment which were flown in from Florida, arrived at the  MAS Cargo building here at 7.30am and was welcomed by the state Tourism, Culture and Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and officials from Sarawak Museum Department.

The repatriation process of the bones was supervised by anthropology expert John Krigbaum from the University of Florida and was assisted by Sarawak Museum Department’s Archaeology Unit chief Mohd Sherman Sauffi.

Speaking to reporters, Abdul Karim said the prehistoric bones were discovered in Gua Niah during an excavation conducted by a team of researchers, led by Sarawak Museum’s first curator Tom Harisson, in the 1950s and 1960s.

“The bone fragments were sent to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the US in 1966 for research purposes, before being transferred to the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2017.

“After more than 50 years abroad, our ancestors have finally returned home to the Land of Hornbills,” he said.

Abdul Karim said the ancient human bones would be displayed at the Sarawak Archaeology Museum which is in the process of upgrading and is expected to be opened to the public later this year.

- Bernama