Past Events
- The Institute of Ideas and the Royal Institution present
- Human Remains
- Objects to study or ancestors to bury?
- Venue: Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1
- Date: May 18, 2004
- Time: 7-8.30pm
- Tickets: Tickets cost £8, £5 for Ri Members and concessions.
- Booking: This event has now taken place.
- The debate launched the first of the IoI's occasional papers. See publications
Museums and research institutions have always contained collections of human remains, from ancient mummies to shrunken heads, which have told us about patterns of evolution and the lives of past cultures. But ethical battles now rage about 'who owns the bones'. A committee at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has recommended that the bones can be returned to the country and culture of origin, and that institutions obtain consent to work on the remains retained. The Human Tissue Bill will make it legally possible for museums to deaccession remains.
Are these bones really the property of long distant relatives, or the scholarly responsibility of curators and scientists? Are museums and scientific institutions surrendering invaluable artefacts and sacrificing greater knowledge of humanity that we have a responsibility to honour?
Speakers
- Alan Cooper
- director of the Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre
- Maurice Davies
- deputy director of the Museums Association
- Robert Foley
- director of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Cambridge
- Tiffany Jenkins
- Institute of Ideas; author of the forthcoming IoI paper, Human Remains: objects to study or ancestors to bury?
