A future for the dead

The long-term storage and curation of human remains has allowed for major advances in recent years and new insights from ancient DNA. To many, the natural course of events is to study human remains and then rebury them, as with the high-profile case of King Richard III. Museum professionals and archaeologists must be prepared to justify long-term curation of human remains away from public view. One approach is to tell the richest possible stories, connecting analytic techniques as much as possible with other finds and contextual information. Once out of the ground, the dead need defenders and advocates, both within and outwith museums. This talk discusses the Cold Case Whithorn project as one example of a community-facing research project centred on the value of curated human remains.

Dr Adrián Maldonado - Galloway Hoard Researcher, National Museums Scotland