Preliminary survey results: how do professionals in the UK view and approach working with disarticulated human remains
Cadbury-Simmons, R. Buckberry, Jo Jennings, Benjamin R.
Cadbury-Simmons, R.
Buckberry, Jo
Jennings, Benjamin R.
Publication Date
2022
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(c) 2022 Chartered Institute of Archaeologists. Full-text reproduced with publisher permission.
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Abstract
Disarticulated human remains (DHR) are commonly found on
archaeological sites within the UK, yet they are often overlooked
as a valuable archaeological resource. A review of the literature
shows that this is due to numerous factors, the main one being
budgetary constraints, an issue which is reflective of broader
issues within commercial archaeology. Competitive tendering has
led to archaeological work often being selected based on the
cheapest contract (Belford 2022). Additionally, negative historic
attitudes towards DHR (Hamerow 2006), and a lack of clear
guidance on how they should be assessed, have led to them
being overlooked. The best guidance available discusses the
issues that may be encountered when working with DHR but
does not give recommendations for how methods should be
utilised (McKinley and Smith 2017). This paper presents the
results of a preliminary survey of professionals working with
human remains in the UK, and their approaches towards DHR.
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Citation
Cadbury-Simmons R, Buckberry J and Jennings BR (2022) Preliminary survey results: how do professionals in the UK view and approach working with disarticulated human remains? The Archaeologist. Summer 2022, issue 116: 24-25.
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