The head of a Malagasy king killed by French troops during a colonial-era war has been formally returned to Madagascar.
The handover of King Toera's skull - and those of two other members of his court - took place at a ceremony at the culture ministry in Paris.
The skulls had been brought back to France at the end of the 19th Century and stored at the Museum of Natural History in the French capital.
This marks the first use of a new law intended to expedite the return of human remains from France's collections.
In August 1897, a French force sent to assert colonial control over the Menabé kingdom of the Sakalava people in western Madagascar massacred a local army.
King Toera was killed and decapitated, and his head was sent to Paris where it was placed in the archives of the Museum of Natural History.
Nearly 130 years later pressure from the king's descendants as well as the government of Madagascar has led to the skull's return.
This is not the first instance of human remains from the colonial era being returned by France; however, it is the first return under the new law aimed at simplifying the process.
The Museum of Natural History is estimated to hold over 20,000 human remains sourced from across the globe for so-called scientific research purposes, continuing to prompt debates over colonial history and reparations.
