Repatriation of remains: now it's the Christians' turn

After years of uncertainty, archaeologists and church leaders in the UK have agreed a set of guidelines governing excavations of Christian graves.

The move is a response to calls for excavated human remains to be reburied on consecrated ground, and follows controversies over repatriating remains from North America and Australia held in museums . . .

At present, remains excavated from consecrated ground are usually reburied, while bones removed from unconsecrated sites are retained for future study. But in the absence of explicit rules, local groups can prevent scientists retaining bones for study, whatever their provenance.

For example, remains from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, dating from AD 575 to 675 were reburied after a campaign by the local parish council, despite the fact that the graves were likely to have been pagan not Christian.

"Their research potential was massive," says archaeologist Corinne Duhig of the University of Cambridge. "But everybody caved in."

Posted by David on May 16, 2004 11:29 PM