Should Old Bones Be Re-Interred ?

[Canary42]

One of the things I've taken up during lockdown isolation is participating in short-term courses being provided free by English Universities. An archaeology course raised an interesting question which I thought I would replicate here.

Should excavated skeletons be re-buried/repatriated ? Apparently Australian Aborigines believe the soul can't rest unless the body remains interred in the country of its birth/residence. As a result they want the hundreds plundered (for research and/or museums) and taken abroad returned.

Would you like your skeleton preserved and exhibited for eternity. My Will currently requests cremation, but the idea of being on display for eternity does have a certain appeal so I may change my views. How about you ? And does it show lack of respect/dignity for the deceased ?

[dannyk13]

I'm not really bothered about what happens after my death.I do think, however, that the bones of the Aborigines should be returned.

[jackthehat]

Skeletons ought to be re-intered with the same reverence (and generally are) they were originally buried and in as close a set of circumstances as possible.

There is no longer any good reason that any skeleton should be kept in research units, or dusty drawers or displayed alone and far away from home.

I am not sure why any *real* skeleton needs to be on display anywhere, actually..........and I wouldn't be caught dead having mine on display somewhere. :o)

[barry1010]

I thought this was going to be a question about council owned cemeteries where graves are only leased for a specified period, normally 50 years or 75 years, or where new developments excavate burial grounds.
I think it is wrong to disturb a grave and certainly skeletons should be repatriated and reburied when requested.
I'm going to be cremated. I don't want a future Tony Robinson poking at me.

[woofgang]

I think if that is the belief of the indigenous people, then it should be complied with. There are individuals who have left their bodies to science or for other purposes and that's different. Personally I am going to the fire. I think where there is no knowledge of what the indigenous belief would have been, then its important that remains should be treated with respect. When I lived in New Jersey, locally a Native American burial ground had been discovered during construction work. Archeologists and Tribe Representatives worked together to respectfully disinter the bones and artefacts, photograph and measure them and then respectfully reinter them elsewhere.

[Ken4155]

Cremated and my ashes scattered on the top of Pendle Hill to keep the witches company. That is my wish. Of course, my children may want to bury me in the plot containing my parents. Not my concern, really.

[Peter Pedant]

// There is no longer any good reason that any skeleton should be kept in research units,//

er xc the piltdown forgery would neer have been discovered if the bones were reinterred ( rich solicitor in Lewes gratuitously forges prehistoric bones - eoanthropus dawsoni) - or that the Red Lady was pre the last Ice Age

the difficulty for christian burials ( pointing east from where Christ will come) and no grave goods,
is that you do it once.
(I think Romans have a ya-dee-dah for reinterrment - they usually have a service of some kind for everything)

[sanmac]

This is slightly, but not completely, off topic: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-53199977
The Dutch authorities want to use a type of crane to lift the wreck, whereas someone has suggested building a coffer-dam around it. I would think that using a crane would result in the wreck falling apart thus losing some, if not all, skeletal remains and artifacts; however, the cost of building a coffer-dam would be enormous...What to do?

[woofgang]

PP the C of E know how to do it too....cf Richard III

[Theland]

Dogs do it all the time :-)