A British university has given back four spears taken more than 250 years ago from an aboriginal community in Australia by explorer Captain James Cook.

The shield which was taken from the Gweagal people of Botany Bay in 1770 by the crew of the Endeavour, remains a powerful artefact of first contact.

Gweagal descendants are cheering the repatriation of three spears from a British museum and say while the battle to get other precious artefacts back is not over, the tide is turning.

More than 250 years after British explorer James Cook took spears from the Gweagal clan of the Dharawal people, four of them are finally returning home to Australia. "We're super excited to have ...

An Aboriginal mission to the UK and Europe to negotiate the return of centuries-old artefacts has made a shock discovery in a Berlin museum, uncovering items that could date from the first ...

The Gweagal spears were taken in 1770 when the Endeavour arrived at Botany Bay in the first meeting between the British and the Indigenous Gweagal people of Kamay.

More than 250 years after they were first taken, four spears stolen by Captain James Cook and his crew, after they arrived at Kamay - Botany Bay, have been handed over to their traditional owners.

Curator Marika Duczynski and the four spears taken by Cook in 1770 have gone on public display at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Credit: Steven Siewert Four of the 40 or 50 Gweagal spears taken during ...

Four of the 40 or 50 Gweagal spears taken during the British voyagers’ eight-day stay have now gone on public display, 30 kilometres from that historic place of European contact.