Human remains
The British Museum has developed a policy with regard to the
human remains in its collections according to the recommendations
of the Code of Practice published by the Department for Culture,
Media & Sport (DCMS) in October 2005, and following the advice
set out in that Code of Practice. The DCMS Code of Practice was
itself developed to provide guidance to museums in relation to the
provisions of the Human Tissue Act 2004.
While the Human Tissue Act 2004 gave the Trustees of the British
Museum the power to deaccession human remains, the Trustees
generally presume that the Museum’s collection should remain
intact. This policy sets out the circumstances in which they would
accept any claim, and gives guidance on the procedures to be
followed by those seeking to submit a claim for the return of human
remains in its collections that are less than one thousand years
old to a community of origin. The policy is also intended to
provide information about the nature of the human remains in the
British Museum’s collections; to set out how the Museum curates,
researches and displays the human remains in its collections.
Read the British
Museum's policy on Human remains
(pdf 80Kb)
Human
remains in the British Museum collection (pdf
835Kb)