One of the more provocative and insightful books on this subject is:

"Skull Wars: Kennewick Man, Archaeology, and the Battle for Native American
Identity" by David Hurst Thomas, 2000, Basic Books.

Of course the politics and social dynamics surrounding human remains in North
America is different from that in the UK.

But nevertheless I believe that there are guidelines and ethics that should
be followed in museum and collections practice no matter what social or
cultural group that the remains originate from.

Some of you may want to read the excellent article on the conservation issues
surrounding human remains in the Journal of the American Institute for
Conservation,
" The Ethical Dilemma Facing Conservation: Care and Treatment of Human
Skeletal Remains and Mortuary Objects" by Gary S. McGowan, & Cheryl J. LaRoche.
(JAIC 1996, Volume 35, Number 2, pps 109-121)

The article can be found on JAIC online at:

http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic35-02-003_indx.html

There was a conference on the topic of human remains, involving mostly
archaeological collections, that was held in Williamsburg, Virginia in November
1999. I believe that the proceedings will be published soon. My good colleague
Emily Williams organized the conference and I would be happy to put anyone in
touch with her who is interested in the status of the proceedings.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Artifacts
2930 South Birch Street
Denver, CO  80222
303-300-5257
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