Human Remains
The Museum cares for over 1,700 items of human remains, ranging from objects made of human bone to complete human mummies from Egypt. The areas of the collection caring for human remains include Archaeology, Egyptology, Living Cultures, Palaeontology and Zoology.
Policy
The Museum's Human Remains Policy is the result of a rigorous public consultation process in which archaeologists, museum professionals, academics, scientists, heritage and faith-based organisations and the Museum's Community Advisory Panel all had the opportunity to participate. All responses were read and taken into consideration.
The Museum recognizes the value of human remains in museums for learning about past peoples - treated appropriately and respectfully, the inclusion of human remains in research, educational and display programmes can be a positive benefit to a wide range of audiences.
We are fully aware that the resulting policy goes beyond the recommendations of the DCMS guidelines (Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums, published in 2005) and there are good reasons for this. There is growing interest in the fate of human remains among many communities. What are valued as human remains in many communities go beyond the strict scientific definition contained in the DCMS guidelines and we believe that any consultation should be extended to include those alternative views.
The Museum is committed to developing ethical, reciprocal and sustainable relationships with many communities and interested groups. The growing interest in human remains among many communities means that the care, interpretation and decisions about use and retention can, ethically, no longer be left simply to the museum, archaeological and scientific communities alone.
Repatriation and Reburial
The Manchester Museum has in the past unconditionally repatriated indigenous human remains to Australia and New Zealand, and fully recognises the claims of originating communities and descendants in these instances. A more broadly based decision-making process now needs to be put in place for human remains without modern genealogical and cultural descendants, which sees human remains found or stored in a particular area as the collective responsibility of all that area's modern residents.