UCL Museums and Collections
University College London
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
02076792000
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/downloads/humanremains04.pdf
Parent Organisation:
Funded by:
University funded
YLM Entry Submitted: Yes
Comments:
This Policy is comprehensive although it is clearly excessive in its content. The Policy is large and unwieldy, and filled with irrelevant information (some of it outdated). Although it does cover all the issues in detail it is difficult to understand. Like all of the policies on offer, the wording implies that any control is at the discretion of the museum.
How many human remains are in its collection, and how many of those are of ancient British provenance, pre-Christian or in other way Pagan?:
Approximately nearly 7000 human remains are held across UCL. In 2004, a scoping survey of pre-1948 human remains in UCL Museums and Collections was carried out. In this survey, objects that included human material were included in the audit. [Fossils and sub-fossils of humans were not included.] The survey covered departments across UCL, including Anatomy, Biological Anthropology, the Eastman Dental Institute, Ethnography, Grant Museum, Galton Collection, Histopathology, Institute of Archaeology, Petrie Museum and the Records Office. This survey found 735 human remains dating from before 1948. Of these, the majority of the remains are unprovenanced. 234 of the remains have an inferred but unverifiable provenance. Of the remains with an associated provenance, the majority are British but a significant number are non-European.
Total: 7000
How many of these human remains are well documented, with clear context of date and place of exhumation?:
Please see previous answer. 171 remains on the Human Remains register at UCL have a provenance of their origin, but this can vary widely a specific dig to a country (eg, Egypt).
Where there are ancestors in store, is there a history of use?:
UCL’s Human Remains policy states, “UCL holds human remains for the purposes of research, public and specialist education and the better understanding of humanity.”
Where there are ancestors in store, is there potential for use, in display, education or scientific analysis?
See previous answer.
Does the museum have a disposal policy, and is it including HR with negligible potential in its discussions about disposal?:Yes
UCL’s policy on Human Remains states that all disposals are the responsibility of UCL’s Museum and Heritage Committee, under the delegated authority of UCL’s Council and under advice from the Director of UCL’s Museums & Collections. In Spring 2009, all of the current Acquisitions & Disposal policies of the MLA Registered museums at UCL (Petrie, Grant, Geology, Art) are being reviewed as part of the process of moving to Acreditation status.
What sources of information about these human remains are in the public domain and where?:
Both the UCL policy on Human Remains and the 2004 Scoping Report are available on UCL Museums & Collections website.
Does the museum have ancestors (human remains) on display?:Yes
Human remains currently on display at UCL include the auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/info/jb.htm The auto-icon is displayed according to his own wishes as set out in his will in 1832. The Grant Museum displays a single human skeleton, which is unprovenanced. The Petrie Museum displays human remains, none of which are British.
Does the museum hold any iconic ancestors, ie. complete skeletons with a well documented story, or those considered of national or local importance, and are these on display?:
Jeremy Bentham – please see previous answer.
Has the museum used or considered using replicas in displays? If not, why not and what would you find useful in moving to these? If you have, what response did these receive?:
Documents:
26 August, 2008
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