Reburial and Repatriation
The BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND
Osteoarchaeology (BABAO) exists to promote the study of the biological remains of past peoples. Although, in common with most of the UK academic community, we endorse the value of scientific research on human remains, we acknowledge that for contested remains, repatriation may sometimes be a more correct response than continued retention. In relation to this issue we support the recent Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums, which provides a framework for handling claims and evaluating the status of claimants.
Below are links to some recent publications and communications by BABAO relating to current repatriation and reburial issues.
BABAO
Letter published in Museum Archaeologists News Summer 2007
Letter published in Museums Journal July 2007
Press Statement issued by BABAO in response to NHM handover of Tasmanian Remains (May 2007)
"Ancestors of us all" article published in Museums Journal Jan. 2007
Other Articles
"Mummies are not museum 'objects' " Armenian Egyptology Centre, Yerevan State University, June 2008
"Naked Mummies covered" The Telegraph May 2008
"Fury as museum bosses cover naked Egyptian mummies" The Mail on Sunday May 2008
"Museum surrenders vital clues to human evolution" The Times May 2007
"Gives us back our bones pagans tell museums" The Guardian Feb. 2007
"Sending back of Aboriginal bones is loss to scientists" The Times Nov. 2006
"Bodies: Who wants to rebury old skeletons" British Archaeology 82, May/ June 2005
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