ALTHOUGH the recent return by several British museums of Aboriginal and Maori human remains to Australia and New Zealand aroused little public dissension, most people still like to see human skeletons on display. A survey by Cambridgeshire archaeologists found that majorities of 70 per cent and more felt that showing skeletons was appropriate and welcome, although a similar percentage thought that they should eventually be reburied.
The survey was triggered by a local exhibit where objections were raised. “At a recent outreach event, we withdrew a display of locally excavated human remains as we were concerned about its appropriateness,” Quinton Carroll reports in British Archaeology. Mr Carroll, principal archaeologist with Cambridgeshire county council, was taken aback by the resultant reaction: “The response suggested that visitors had expected to see the skeletons, and our actions were criticised. This surprised us, as we thought we had reacted according to the prevailing mood.
“We as archaeological professionals may have had our opinions skewed by a vocal minority,” he said. To test broader public opinion, the survey was run over a four-month period, and found that 85 per cent of respondents were aware that skeletons excavated by archaeologists were retained rather than immediately reburied.
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Eighty-eight per cent believed it was appropriate for them to be used for scientific study, and more than 70 per cent of those who felt that eventual reinterment was desirable thought it should take place only when such studies were completed. Only 5 per cent wanted immediate reburial, and 56 per cent of those questioned believed that the assumed religion of the deceased should affect how the skeleton was treated.
Since specialists “can often feel besieged by demands for reburial”, these views come as a surprise, Mr Carroll said. “What has been perceived as a popular view may be incorrect.” Although support for reburial at the request of the local community was marked, at 25 per cent of those who wanted reinterment to take place, it was still a minority view, he said.
Almost 80 per cent of those asked expected to see human skeletons displayed in museums, slightly fewer thought it appropriate, and 71 per cent “expected to see skeletons at one-off events hosted by archaeologists”, with 69 per cent feeling it appropriate.
These public opinions differ significantly from the conclusions of two recent committee studies, one run by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport in 2004 and one by the Church of England and English Heritage this year, in which far more restrictive treatment of excavated human remains is advocated. One answer may be the storage of such material on hallowed ground: a pilot study is using the redundant church of St Peter at Barton-on-Humber to store 2,500 skeletons of all ages. Whether the remains of pagans — all those who lived more than 1,800 years ago in Britain — should be stored on Christian premises will be a matter for discussion, but many will feel that the attitude of respect thus displayed will satisfy all but the vocal minority of reburial advocates.