Such remains brought to this country as gruesome souvenirs for experimental purposes or as scientific curios

Such remains, brought to this country as gruesome souvenirs, for experimental purposes or as scientific curios by early white settlers, have become a burning political issue in Australia.Aborigines believe the spirits of these people cannot rest until their bones are laid in their native ground, nor can they be free if the remains are separated. With contentious collections across Britain, the Government gave an undertaking to increase efforts to repatriate such artefacts.Among the most controversial are the Elgin Marbles, sought by the Greek government, and the Rosetta Stone, which the Egyptians yesterday requested be returned on loan to be displayed at a new wing of the Cairo Museum.Tristram Besterman, director of Manchester Museum, said the act of returning the Aboriginal skulls recognised “our common humanity” “These remains were removed during the colonial era … Their removal, more than a century ago, was carried out without the permission of the Aboriginal nations … in violation of the laws and beliefs of the indigenous Australian people,” he said. “None the less, by returning these remains now, we hope to contribute to ending the sense of outrage and dispossession felt by Australian Aborigines today.”Yesterday’s ceremony follows an agreement between the University of Manchester and the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (Faira).Bob Weatherall, of Faira, said: “This will end the practice of scientific investigations and maintaining Aboriginal ancestors in cardboard boxes, plastic bags and vaults in museums.” Major Sumner, a traditional custodian from the Ngarrindjeri nation in South Australia, added: “The torment is ended, we now put an end to the torment.”Last year the Royal College of Surgeons’ museum became the first English institution to hand over Aboriginal remains.

Among them were said to be hair and skin from Truganini, a woman hailed as the last Tasmanian Aborigine. She died in 1876.The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Australia’s main organisation for indigenous people, has identified more than 50 institutions in 18 countries that acknowledged holding remains and artefacts in their collections.Ken Colbung, an elder of the Nyoongar Bibbulman tribe and a justice of the peace in Western Australia, travelled to Liverpool six years ago to demand the return of the head of Yagan – one of the community’s greatest heroes. Yagan was considered an outstanding leader of the Tondarup Ballaruk clan who was the first to speak up for his people’s rights and tried to reconcile whites and blacks in the 1830s. He was shot by a farm worker and his severed head was smoked, pickled and exhibited before being buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave in Liverpool.The Home Office initially refused exhumation, after objections from relatives of stillborn babies in the same public grave, sonar technology was eventually used to do so without disturbing other bodies.Mr Colbung said: “It is Aboriginal belief that because of Yagan’s skeletal remains are incomplete, his spirit is earthbound. The uniting of his head and torso will immediately set his spirit free to continue its eternal journey.”The row over the 2,200-year-old Rosetta Stone flared again yesterday when Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, insisted the British Museum should send it back. But the museum refused a request to loan it to Cairo for the 2005 opening of a new wing of its museum.A statement said: “To loan such pieces would result in our disappointing the five million visitors who come to the museum every year.” Mr Hawass said the museum should “not be selfish”. The stone unlocks the mystery of hieroglyphics, but the Egyptian museum only has a reproduction.STILL IN BRITISH HANDSThe British Museum has consistently refused to return the Rosetta Stone, right, to Egypt.

The 2,200-year-old stone, which unlocked the mysteries of hieroglyphics, was discovered by French soldiers in 1799 before being handed to the English upon surrender. It has been in the London collection since 1802.The museum has also long resisted Greek attempts to regain the Parthenon Marbles, right, the 2,500-year-old frieze depicting an Athenian procession that Britain acquired in 1811 from Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.. Mondeo man may not be feeling so pleased with himself when he steps out to wash his car this weekend. The cost of a used car up to three years old plunged by 13.5 per cent while the downward trend in new cars continued with a 1.2 per cent fall.Changing tastes in the £45bn UK car market has led to, on average, a 21.9 per cent fall in the value of a family saloon such as the Vauxhall Vectra.Andy Bayes, head of motor finance at the Alliance & Leicester, said: “The second-hand car market is huge with over 7 million used cars sold every year in the UK compared to 2.5 million new cars in 2002. While new cars are the cheapest they have been for years, those looking for real deals should look to the second-hand market.”Those prepared to haggle can get a great bargain as dealers desperately try to move the huge volumes of cars on the forecourt.”The flood of second-hand cars can be traced back to a victory won by consumer groups over the British motor industry three years ago. The Consumers’ Association, backed by the Government, accused motor companies of overcharging by exercising undue control over dealerships.

Motorists were persuaded to stop buying new cars in the UK in a boycott that lasted for about a year.European legislation outlawing anti-competitive agreements between dealers and manufacturers will be introduced in two years. Meanwhile changing consumer attitudes combined with currency fluctuations have forced prices for new cars down by about 10 per cent.Alkan Hassan, of the Rushmores dealership in Catford, south-east London, was offering discounts of up to £1,000 on vehicles yesterday. “Very few customers expect to pay the price on the sticker now, probably less than 20 per cent,” he said. “Two or three years ago, that was not the case but today people are far more aware of what is going on in the market and they are prepared to bargain pretty hard. We just have to make sure they get that bargain.”Douglas McWilliams of the Centre for Economics and Business Research said the economics of the car market were straightforward.He said: “As new car prices have fallen in the past three years, so ever-increasing numbers of used cars are coming on the market.