Inventory of older medical artefacts handed over to the government
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Uppsala University has made a thorough inventory of medical artefacts, including human remains, which have been left as a heritage from research and education of the past. The inventory is now being handed over to the Ministry of Education and Research who will handle any claims from organisations.
At Uppsala University, medical artefacts have been stored at different departments and storage rooms. They have later been rediscovered, for instance when departments have moved to newer buildings. The collections include skeletons and conserved biological material.
On orders of the Ministry of Culture an inventory was made in 2006 of all known artefacts, and the resulting register was handed over to the Ministry. Parts of the collections at Uppsala University were handed over to the National Historical Museum in Stockholm, while other parts were left at the University.
A few years ago the University decided to make a new, complete inventory, to get a clearer picture of what medical artefacts existed in Uppsala. There was reason to believe that the previous inventory was not complete. All findings have now been examined by osteologists and registered. The information is being transferred to the Ministry of Education and Research who will decide on any claims to the artefacts.
‘We think it is important to handle this in the best possible way. Now a thorough inventory has been done and we want to ensure that all the information is available in collected form in case anyone wants to make a claim to any part of the collection. We will then comply with the decisions made by the ministry’, says Margaretha Andersson, section director of the Planning Division at Uppsala University.