Jamaica wants its 8,000 artefacts back

THE British Museum has approximately 8,000 artefacts of Jamaican origin that have been identified in its vast collection of objects, and Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange says the Government is working at having them returned to the island.

Of that number, 7,000 pieces are held in the Americas Section, including the carpenter’s Mountain collection, Grange told the Jamaica Observer on Saturday after updating Parliament last Tuesday on her trip to London earlier this month to file a petition to King Charles III on the legality of chattel enslavement of Jamaica’s African ancestors.

“The holdings encompass archaeological materials, including Taíno artefacts, animal bones and shells, as well as ethnographic and historical objects,” Grange explained.