Abstract
For several decades, human remains have been at the centre of a heated debate that focuses upon whether or not it is ethical to disturb, retain, study and display the dead. Despite such a lengthy period of discussion, it has not been possible to give a definitive answer to that question. Whilst some people believe the dead should simply remain undisturbed, others believe that the scientific value of human remains is paramount, and there is a wide range of viewpoints in-between. The issue of dealing with human remains in archaeology and in museums is a complex one, and it is clear that contextual information is crucial in making decisions regarding their fate. The aim of this chapter is to provide context as to the origins and continuation of an emotive issue that has spanned decades, with specific emphasis on museums in England, and to discuss whether concerns relating to the treatment of human remains in archaeology and in museums are in fact any closer to being resolved.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Advisory Panel on the Archaeology of Burials in England. (2009). http://www.archaeologyuk.org/apabe/formation.html. Accessed 12 Aug 2012.
Advisory Panel of the Archaeology of Burials in England (APABE) n.d. http://www.archaeologyuk.org/apabe/. Accessed 11 June 2016.
BBC. (2016). Elephant Man’ Joseph Merrick should be buried in Leicester. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-36478601. Accessed 12 June 2016.
BDRC. (2009) Research into issues surrounding human remains in Museums. http://www.babao.org.uk/index/cms-filesystem-action/eh%20opinion_survey_report.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug 2012.
Bienkowski, P. (2007). Care assistance. Museums Journal, 6, 18.
Bienkowski, P., & Chapman, M. (2009). Authority and Decision-making Over British Human Remains: Issues and Challenges. In M. E. Lewis & M. Clegg (Eds.)., BAR International Series 1918 Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (pp. 99–105). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Blain, J., & Wallis, R. (2007). Sacred sites contested rites/rights. Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press.
Bromilow, G. (1993). Finders Keepers. Museums Journal, 3, 31–33.
Burke, H., Smith, C., Lippert, D., & Watkins, J. (2008). Kennewick man: Perspectives on the ancient one. Walnut Creek: West Coast Press.
Callaway, E. (2016). North America’s oldest mummy returned to U.S. tribe after genome sequencing. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/north-america-rsquo-s-oldest-mummy-returned-to-u-s-tribe-after-genome-sequencing/. Accessed 8 Dec 2016.
Christafis, A. (2009). French judge closes Body Worlds-style exhibition of Corpses. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/21/corpse-france-hagens-ouvert. Accessed 30 Dec 2014.
Clark, N. (2013). Dead serious? photo of Damien Hirst with severed head riles Richard III academics. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dead-serious-photo-of-damien-hirst-with-severed-head-riles-richard-iii-academics-8706571.html. Accessed 26 June 2015.
CNN. (2017). India police arrest 8 in human bone smuggling ring. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/23/asia/india-bone-smuggling/index.html Accessed 24 March 2017.
CoBDO. (2008). Request for the reburial of human remains and grave goods, Avebury. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/content/imported-docs/a-e/appendix1cobdorequest.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug 2012.
DCMS. (2005). Guidance for the care of human remains in Museums. London: DCMS.
DCMS (2007). Review of the guidance for the care of human remains in Museums. Unpublished.
DeKok, D. (2014). Auction of skull of civil war soldier found at Gettysburg cancelled. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-civilwar-skull-idUSKBN0EG2EQ20140605 Accessed 27 Jan 2014.
Doyal, L., & Muinzer, T. (2011). Should the skeleton of “the Irish giant” be buried at sea? BMJ, 343(2011). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d7597 Accessed 15 Sept 2013.
English Heritage and the Church of England. (2005, updated 2017). Guidance for best practice for treatment for human remains excavated from Christian burial grounds in England. Swindon: English Heritage.
Excell, K. (2016). A discussion of authority, authorship and agendas in the human remains debate. In H. Williams & M. Giles (Eds.), Archaeologists and the dead: Mortuary archaeology in contemporary society (pp. 233–250). New York: Oxford University Press.
Fforde, C. (2004). Collecting the dead: Archaeology and the reburial issue. Bristol: Bristol Classical Press.
Fforde, C. (2005). UCL collections of Pre-1948 human remains research phase 3: Final report. London: UCL.
Fforde, C., Hubert, J., & Turnbull, P. (2002). The dead and their possessions: Repatriation in principle, policy and practice. London: Routledge.
Guardian. (2002). New organ retention row hits Alder Hey. http://society.guardian.co.uk/alderhey/story/0,714834,00.html Accessed 13 Jan 2017.
Hall, M. A. (2013). The quick and the Deid: A Scottish perspective on caring for human remains. In M. Giesen (Ed.), Curating human remains: Caring for the dead in the United Kingdom (pp. 65–74). Suffolk: Boydell Press.
Harding, L. (2004). Von Hagens forced to return controversial corpses to China. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/23/arts.china. Accessed 30 March 2017.
Honoring the Ancient Dead. (2009). Press release: HAD's response to the English.
Hugo, K. (2016) Human Skulls Are Being Sold Online, But Is It Legal? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/human-skulls-sale-legal-ebay-forensics-science/. Accessed 25 Aug 2016.
Human Tissue Act. (2004). http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/30/contents. Accessed 7 Jan 2017.
Jenkins, T. (2008). Dead bodies: The changing treatment of human remains in British museum collections and the challenge to the traditional model of the museum. Mortality, 13(2), 105–118.
Jenkins, T. (2011). Contesting human remains in museum collections: The crisis of cultural authority. New York: Routledge.
Killgrove, C. (2016). Mummy Crowdfunder leaves archaeologists fuming. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2016/10/10/mummy-crowdfunder-leaves-archaeologists-fuming/#4b6220c01d2d. Accessed 11 Oct 2016.
McKie, R. (2003). ‘Brains removed in organs scandal’. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/may/11/research.highereducation. Accessed 13 Jan 2017.
National Park Service. (n.d.). National NAGPRA Online Databases. http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/ONLINEDB/INDEX.HTM. Accessed 5 July 2012.
Nicholas Marquez-Grant, N., & Fibiger, L. (Eds.). (2013). The Routledge handbook of archaeological human remains and legislation: An international guide to laws and practice in the excavation and treatment of archaeological human remains. London: Routledge.
Pagans for Archaeology. (2008). What we stand for. http://archaeopagans.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-we-stand-for.html. Accessed 1 Aug 2012.
Pagans for Archaeology. (2010). Avebury remains to stay in museum. http://archaeopagans.blogspot.com/2010/04/avebury-remains-to-stay-in-museum.html. Accessed 1 Aug 2012.
Parker Pearson, M., Schadla-Hall, T., & Moshenska G. (2011). Resolving the human remains crisis in British archaeology. http://www.pia-journal.co.uk/articles/10.5334/pia.369/. Accessed 13 Dec 2016.
Payne, S. (2010) A child’s gift to science. British Archaeology, May–June, 12–13.
Rasmussen, M., Sikora, M., Albrechtsen, A., Sand Korneliussen, T., Moreno-Mayar, J. V., Poznik, G. D., Zollikofer, C. P. E., Ponce de Leon, M. S., Allentoft, M. E., Moltke, I., Jonsson, H., Valdiosera, C., Malhi R. S., Orlando, L., Bustamante, C.D., Stafford Jr, T. W., Meltzer, D. J., Nielsen, R., & Willerslev, E. (2016). The ancestry and affiliations of Kennewick Man. https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v523/n7561/pdf/nature 14625.pdf. Accessed 5 Jan 2017.
Rogers, T. (2016). Rise of the Nazi Grave Robbers. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-latvia-nazi-memorabilia/. Accessed 30 Aug 2016.
Sayer, D. (2009). Is there a crisis facing British burial archaeology? Antiquity, 83, 199–205.
Sharp, J., & Hall, M. A. (2013). Tethering time and tide? Human remains legislation and guidance for Scottish museums. In M. Giesen (Ed.), Curating human remains: Caring for the dead in the United Kingdom (pp. 65–74). Suffolk: Boydell Press.
Simpson, M. (1994). Reburying the past. Museums Journal, 7, 28–32.
Thackray, D., & Payne, S. (2008). Draft report on the request for reburial of human remains from the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury. London: National Trust, Swindon and English Heritage.
Thackray, D., & Payne, S. (2009). Report on consultation on the request for the reburial of prehistoric human remains from the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury. London: National Trust, Swindon and English Heritage.
Thackray, D., & Payne, S. (2010). Avebury reburial request: Summary report. London: National Trust, Swindon and English Heritage.
The Manchester Museum. (2009). Consultation on unprovenanced and poorly provenanced human remains. http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/documents/unprovenanced_human_remains_consultation.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug 2012.
The Manchester Museum. (2011). Findings and outcomes of a consultation on the care and retention of Ancient British human remains in the collection of The Manchester Museum. http://issuu.com/manchestermuseum/docs/consultation_outcomes_on_human_remains. Accessed 12 Aug. 2012.
Thomas, D. H. (2012). Skull wars: Kennewick man, archaeology, and the battle for native American identity. New York: Basic Books.
Weeks, J., & Bott, V. (2003). Scoping survey of historic human remains in English museums undertaken on behalf of the ministerial working group on human remains. London: DCMS.
Weiss, E. (2008). Reburying the past: The effects of repatriation and reburial on scientific enquiry. New York: Nova.
White, L. (2011). Giving up the dead: The impact and effectiveness of the human tissue act and the guidance for the care of human remains in English Museums, unpublished PhD thesis, Newcastle University.
White, L. (2013). The impact and effectiveness of the human tissue act 2004 and the guidance for the care of human remains in museums in England. In M. Giesen (Ed.), Curating human remains: Caring for the dead in the United Kingdom (pp. 43–52). Croydon: Boydell Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
White, L. (2019). Conflicts Over the Excavation, Retention and Display of Human Remains: An Issue Resolved?. In: Campbell, S., White, L., Thomas, S. (eds) Competing Values in Archaeological Heritage. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94102-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94102-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94101-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94102-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)