Human remains

Below you will find an extensive list of human remains related reading. The list is a work in progress and will be regularly updated. If you are aware of other resources you think are important and should be included then please feel free to email feedback@criticalreflections.org with your suggestions.

Alberti, S., Drew, S., Bienkowski, P., and Chapman, M. J. (2009) ‘Should we display the dead?’. Museum and Society 7 (3), 133-149

Anstett, E. and Dreyfus, J. M. (2015) Human remains and identification. Manchester: Manchester University Press

Bahn, P. G. (1984) 'Do not disturb? Archaeology and the rights of the dead'. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 3 (1), 127-39

Bahn, P. G. and Paterson, R. W. K. (1986) 'The Last Rights: more on archaeology and the dead'. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 5(3), 252-71

BDRC (2009) Research into issues surrounding human bones in Museums

Bell, L. (2010) ‘Museums, Ethics and Human Remains in England: Recent Developments and Implications for the Future’ in Turnbull, P. and Pickering, M. (eds.) The Long Way Home: the Meanings and Values of Repatriation. Sydney: Berghahn Books, 29-34

Besterman, T. (2008) ‘Why the British Museum should give back Māori human remains if it wants to take a truly enlightened approach’. Museums Journal 7, 17

Bienkowski, P. (2007) ‘Care assistance’. Museums Journal 6, 18

Bray, T. The Future of the Past: Archaeologists, Native Americans and Repatriation. London: Routledge

Burnett, A. (2008) ‘Why it is sometimes okay to say no to requests for the return of human remains?’. Museums Journal 6, 17

Butler, T. (2001) 'Government announces details of working group on human remains'. Museums Journal 6, 5

Burch, D. (2010) Digging Up the Dead: Uncovering the Life and Times of an Extraordinary Surgeon. Vintage Digital

Burke, H., Smith, C., Lippert, D. and Watkins, J. (2008) Kennewick Man: Perspectives on the Ancient One. Walnut Creek: West Coast Press

Carroll, Q. (2005) ‘Who wants to rebury old skeletons?’. British Archaeology May-June, 10- 15

Cassman, V., Odegaard, N. and Powell, J. (2007) Human Remains: Guide for Museums and Academic Institutions. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield

Cheney, A. (2006) Body Brokers: Inside America's Underground Trade in Human Remains. Crown

Clegg, M. (2020) Human Remains: Curation, Reburial and Repatriation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Colwell, C. (2017) Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America's Culture. University of Chicago Press

Conaty, G. et al. (2015) We Are Coming Home: Repatriation and the Restoration of Blackfoot Cultural Confidence. Athabasca University Press

Cove, J. J. (1995) What the Bones Say: Tasmanian Aborigines, Science and Domination. Canada: Carleton University Press

Cox, M. (1996) Life and Death in Spitalfields 1700 to 1850. York: CBA

Davies, C. (2003) The Return of El Negro. Sandton: Viking

Davies, D. J. (2002) Death, Ritual and Belief. London: Continuum

Day, J. (2006) The Mummy's Curse: Mummymania in the English-speaking world. London: Routledge

Ferber, S. and Wilde, S. (2013) The Body Divided: Human Beings and Human 'Material' in Modern Medical History. Ashgate

Fforde, C. (1997) Controlling the dead: an analysis of the collecting and repatriation of Aboriginal human remains. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Southampton

Fforde, C. (2004) Collecting the Dead: Archaeology and the Reburial Issue. London: Duckworth

Fforde, C., Hubert, J. and Turnbull, P. (2002) The Dead and their Possessions: Repatriation in principle, policy and practice. London: Routledge

Fforde, C., Howes, H., Knapman, G. and Ormond-Parker, L. (2023) Repatriation, Science and Identity. London: Routledge

Fine-Dare, K. S. (2002) Grave Injustice: The American Repatriation Movement and NAGPRA. London: University of Nebraska Press

Francis, G. (2015) Adventures in Human Being. Wellcome Collection

Gawande, A. (2014) Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End. Wellcome Collection

Giesen, M. and White, L. (2013) ‘International Perspectives Towards Human Remains Curation’ in Giesen, M. (ed.) Curating Human Remains: Caring for the Dead in the United Kingdom. Suffolk: Boydell Press, 13-24

Grogan, S. (2019) Death, Disease & Dissection: The Life of a Surgeon- Apothecary 1750–1850. Barnsley: Pen & Sword

Guy, J. (2024) Auction house withdraws shrunken heads and other human remains from sale following outcry. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/09/style/auction-house-shrunken-heads-intl-scli-gbr/index.html

Harrison, S. (2012) Dark Trophies: Hunting and the Enemy Body in Modern War. Berghahn Books

Heal, S. (2008) ‘Human remains policy is criticised’. I 1, 8

Herewini, T. H. (2008) ‘The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) and the Repatriation of Koiwi Tangata (Maori and Moriori skeletal remains) and Toi Moko (Mummified Maori Tattooed Heads), International Journal of Cultural Property 15, 405- 406

Heywood, F. (2000) 'NHM agrees to better access to human remains'. Museums Journal 6, 11

Heywood, F. (2002) 'Royal College of Surgeons returns Tasmanian Aboriginal remains'. Museums Journal 7, 8

Heywood, F. (2007) ‘Natural History Museum and Tasmanians agree to return of human remains. Museums Journal 6, 5

Hole, F. (2007) ‘Playthings for the Foe: The Repatriation of Human Remains in New Zealand’. Public Archaeology 6, (1), 5-27

Hughes, H. (2009) ‘Gently with the remains’. Museums Journal 1, 8

Holmes, R. (2007) The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Saartjie Baartman. London: Bloomsbury

Hunter, J. and Cox, M. (2005) Forensic archaeology; advances in theory and practice. London: Routledge

Hurren, E. (2011) Dying for Victorian Medicine: English Anatomy and its Trade in the Dead Poor, c.1834 – 1929. Palgrave Macmillan

Jenkins, T. (2008) ‘Dead bodies: The changing treatment of human remains in British museum collections and the challenge to the traditional model of the museum’. Mortality 13 (2), 105-118

Jenkins, T. (2011) Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: The Crisis of Cultural Authority. New York: Routledge

Jespersen, T. C., Rodriguez, A., and Starr, J. (2009) The Anatomy of Body Worlds: Critical Essays on the Plastinated Cadavers of Gunther von Hagens. London: McFarland and Company

Jones, G. (2000) Speaking for the Dead: Cadavers in biology and medicine. Oxon: Routledge

Jones, G. and Whitaker, M. I. (2009) Speaking for the Dead: The human body in biology and medicine. Surrey: Ashgate

Jones, J. P. (1993) ‘Bones of contention’. Museums Journal 3, 24-25

Jupp, P. C. and Gittings, C. (1999) Death in England. Manchester: Manchester University Press

Kennedy, M. (2008) ‘Why are museums so queasy about death?’. Museums Journal 11, 17

Knoeff, R. and Zwijnenberg, R. (2016) The Fate of Anatomical Collections. London: Routledge

Lantos, J. (2011) Controversial Bodies: Thoughts on the Public Display of Plastinated Corpses. John Hopkins University Press

Laqueur, T. (2015) The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains. Princeton University Press

Layton, R. (1994) Conflict in the Archaeology of Living Traditions. London: Routledge

Legassick, M. and Rassool, C. (2000) Skeletons in the Cupboard: South African museums and the trade in human remains 1907-1917. Cape Town: South African Museum

Lohman, J. and Goodnow, K. (eds.) (2006) Human Remains and Museum Practice. Paris/London: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Museum of London

McCorristine, S. (2014) William Corder and the Red Barn Murder: Journeys of the Criminal Body. Palgrave Pivot

Marquez-Grant, N. and Fibiger, L. (2011) The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human Remains and Legislation: An international guide to laws and practice in the excavation and treatment of archaeological human remains. London: Routledge

Martin, D. et al. (2013) Bioarchaeology: An Integrated Approach to Working with Human Remains. New York: Springer

Mays, S. (1998) The Archaeology of Human Bones. London: Routledge

Mays, S. (2010) ‘Archaeological Skeletons Support a Northwest European Origin for Paget’s Disease of Bone’. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 25, 8 1839-1841

Mazzio, C. and Hillman, D. (2013) The Body in Parts: Fantasies of Corporeality in Early Modern Europe. London: Routledge

Meighan, C. W. (1992) ‘Some Scholars’ Views on Reburial’. American Antiquity 54 (4), 704- 710

Mihesuah, D. (2000) Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains. London: University of Nebraska Press

Mitchell, P. (2016) Anatomical Dissection in Enlightenment England and Beyond: Autopsy, Pathology and Display. London: Routledge

Moore, W. (2005) The Knife Man: Blood, Body-Snatching and the Birth of Modern Surgery. London: Bantam Books

Mulvaney, D. J. (1991) 'Past regained, future lost: the Kow Swamp Pleistocene burials'. Antiquity 65, 12-21

Museums Journal (2005) ‘Should museums be braver about displaying their human remains?’ Museums Journal 10, 15

Newkirk, P. (2015) Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga. Amistad

Owsley, D. and Jantz, J. (2014) Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton. Texas A&M University Press

Ousley, S. D., Billbeck, W. T. and Hollinger, E. (2005) ‘Federal Repatriation Legislation and the Role of Physical Anthropology in Repatriation’. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 48, 2-22

Payne, S. (2010) ‘A child’s gift to science’. British Archaeology May-June, 12-13

Redfern, M., Keeling, J. W. and Powell, E. (2001) The Royal Liverpool Children’s Inquiry Report. London: The Stationery Office

Redfern, R. and Clegg, M. (2017) Archaeologically derived human remains in England: legacy and future. World Archaeology, Vol. 49 Issue 5, pp 574-587.

Redman, S. (2016) Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums. Harvard University Press

Retained Organs Commission (2002) Investigation into organ retention at Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals. London: Department of Health Publications

Robben, A. (2004) Death, Mourning and Burial: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing

Roberts, C. (2009) Human remains in archaeology: a handbook. York: CBA

Roberts, C. and Manchester, K. (2010) The Archaeology of Disease: Third Edition. The History Press

Rose, G. C., Green, T. J. and Green, V. D. (1996) ‘NAGPRA is forever: Osteology and the Repatriation of Skeletons’. Annual Review of Anthropology 25, 81-103

Rosenblatt, A. (2015) Digging for the Disappeared: Forensic Science after Atrocity. Stanford University Press

Sawday, J. (2013) The Body Emblazoned: Dissection and the Human Body in Renaissance Culture. London: Routledge

Sayer, D. (2010) Ethics and Burial Archaeology. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd

Simpson, M. (1994) 'Burying the past'. Museums Journal 7, 28-29

Smith, M. and Mays, S. (2007) ‘Ancestors of us all’. Museums Journal 1, 18

Squires, K., Errickson, D. and Márquez-Grant, N. (2020) Ethical Approaches to Human Remains: A Global Challenge in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology. New York: Springer

Steel, P. (2006) ‘Introduction of human remains licence leads to confusion’. Museums Journal 9, 13

Stienne, A. (2022) Mummified: The stories behind Egyptian mummies in museums. Manchester University Press

Swain, H. (2002) 'The ethics of displaying human remains from British archaeological sites'. Public Archaeology 2, 95-100

Sugg, R. (2015) Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians. London: Routledge

Tarlow, S. (1999) Bereavement and Commemoration: An Archaeology of Mortality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers

Thackray, D. and Payne, S. (2008) Draft report on the request for reburial of human remains from the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury. London: National Trust, Swindon and English Heritage

Thackray, D. and Payne, S. (2009) Report on consultation on the request for the reburial of prehistoric human remains from the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury. London: National Trust, Swindon and English Heritage

Thackray, D. and Payne, S. (2010) Avebury Reburial Request: Summary Report. London: National Trust, Swindon and English Heritage

Thomas, D. (2001) Skull Wars: Kennewick Man, Archaeology, And the Battle For Native American Identity. Basic Books

Turnbull, P. and Pickering, M. (2010) The Long Way Home: The Meaning and Values of Repatriation. Berghahn Books

Turnbull, P. (2017) Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia. Palgrave.

Turner, T. R. (2004) Biological Anthropology and Ethics: From Repatriation to Genetic Identity. New York: State University of New York

Urry, J. (1989) 'Headhunters and bodysnatchers'. Anthropology Today 5 (5), 11-13

Wallis, R. J. and Blain, J. (2011) ‘From Respect to Reburial: Negotiating Pagan Interest in Prehistoric Human Remains in Britain, Through the Avebury Consultation’. Public Archaeology 10 (1), 23-45

Watkins, J. (2001) Indigenous Archaeology: American Indian Values and Scientific Practice. Altamira

Weeks, J. and Bott, V. (2003) Scoping Survey of Historic Human Remains in English Museums undertaken on behalf of the Ministerial Working Group on Human Remains. London: DCMS

Weiss, E. (2008) Reburying the Past: The Effects of Repatriation and Reburial on Scientific Enquiry. New York: Nova

Weiss, E. and Springer, J. W. (2020) Repatriation and Erasing the Past. Florida: University Press of Florida

White, L. (2011) Giving up the dead? The impact and effectiveness of the Human Tissue Act and the Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in English Museums. Unpublished PhD thesis. Newcastle University

White, L. (2013) ‘The Impact and Effectiveness of the Human Tissue Act 2004 and the Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums in England’ in Giesen, M. (ed.) Curating Human Remains: Caring for the Dead in the United Kingdom. Suffolk: Boydell Press, 43-52

White, L. (2018) ‘Continuing Conflicts over the Excavation, Retention and Display of Human Remains: An Issue Resolved?’ in Campbell, S., White, L. and Thomas, S. (eds.) Competing Values in Archaeological Heritage. London: Springer

White, T. et al. (2011) Human Osteology. Academic Press

Williams, H. and Giles, M. (2016) Archaeologists and the Dead: Mortuary Archaeology in Contemporary Society. Oxford University Press

Wise, S. (2012) The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London. Vintage Digital