Research into the provenance of two human laryngeal specimens in the Lautarchiv (Sound Archives) of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The Lautarchiv of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin consists of an acoustic collection of around 7,500 shellac records, wax cylinders and tapes. They include sensitive recordings of a large number of languages and dialects made in WWI and WWII prisoner of war camps. In 2021, the Lautarchiv will be the only collection of the Humboldt-Universität to move to the Humboldt Forum. There, it is presented in detail in the opening exhibition of the Humboldt Lab.

During the preparation of the exhibition, two human laryngeal specimens of unknown provenance were found in the archives. Given the past and ongoing controversial discussion about human remains in the context of the Humboldt Forum and the expected heightened (research) interest in the Lautarchiv, the main goal of the project was to clarify the provenance of the specimens. According to a first examination by Dr. Holger Stoecker, an expert on colonial provenance, a colonial context of acquisition seemed plausible. The following provenance research aimed to shed light on the exact circumstances of the acquisition as well as its institutional and scientific context. For this purpose, the situation in which the specimens were found was documented, the specimens were examined with regard to anatomy and preparation techniques and dated, archival sources were reviewed and interviews with former staff and curators in charge of the Lautarchiv were conducted.

The research found no concrete evidence of the provenance of the two larynxes. However, because of institutional structures, research approaches and personnel ties it seems plausible that they came from the colonial war against the Herero and Nama (1904–1908), entered the Berlin Institute of Anatomy and from there found their way into today’s Lautarchiv (Sound Archives). What is certain is that the two specimens were already located in the then “Institut für Lautforschung” (Institute for Sound Exploration) in the 1930s where, at that time, the link between voice and “race” was a research topic – especially with regard to South African languages. Besides the verification or falsification of a colonial acquisition context, a further aim was to develop some practical and specific recommendations on how to handle human remains from colonial contexts in collections of the Humboldt-Universität. These guidelines were developed in close cooperation with staff of the Lautarchiv and will be handed out to all staff members of the HU university collections.

(c) Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-Labor.