PARIS — The Normandy museum only wanted to do what was right: It offered to return a preserved, tattooed Maori head to New Zealand, an attempt to restore dignity to human remains that were long put on display as an exotic curiosity.

Instead, authorities in the Normandy city of Rouen got a scolding from the culture minister for not checking with national authorities first. A Rouen administrative court ruled last week that, pending a decision later this year, the Maori head must remain in France.

For years, New Zealand has sought the return of mummified Maori heads and other remains, many of which were collected by Westerners in a grisly exchange for weapons and other goods.

Rouen's Maori head was given to the city's natural history museum in unclear circumstances in 1875. It was on display there until 1996. The museum reopened this year after being closed for 10 years, which had allowed officials to take stock, and they decided the head should go back to New Zealand.

"This is an ethical gesture, based on the respect for world cultures and the dignity of every human being," Rouen Mayor Pierre Albertini wrote on his blog. Sebastien Minchin, head of the Rouen museum, says returning the remains would help bring closure to "the hateful trafficking of another era."

Some of the Maori heads, displaying the intricate tattoos of warriors, were traditionally kept as trophies from tribal warfare. But once Westerners began offering prized goods in exchange for them, men were in danger of being killed for their tattoos, Rouen museum officials said.

Rouen planned a handover ceremony for the remains on Oct. 23. But on the eve of the event, French Culture Minister Christine Albanel issued a statement saying Rouen did not follow the proper procedures and asked an administrative court to halt the transfer.

The following day, the ceremony in Rouen went ahead, attended by Paris-based New Zealand diplomats. But it was merely symbolic, and the Maori head remains in a storeroom. The New Zealand Embassy declined to comment on the issue.

Olivier Henrard, legal adviser for the Culture Ministry, stressed that France wasn't opposed to the return of human remains. In 2002, it returned the skeleton and organs of Saartjie Baartman, long displayed under the pejorative nickname of "Hottentot Venus," to South Africa. But the ministry worried that Rouen's act would set a precedent for unilateral decisions.

"Today it's a Maori head, but tomorrow it could be a mummy in the Louvre," Henrard said.