YLM Database

Hull & East Riding Museum

c/o Ferens Art Gallery
Queen Victoria Square
Hull
HU1 3RA

01482616442

Parent Organisation:
Funded by:

Local authority – Hull City Council. (The Hull and East Riding Museum is one of eight museums which make up Hull Museums.)

YLM Entry Submitted: Yes
Comments:

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?:

About 1000 (a major programme of documentation is still underway), including fragmentary remains and part skeletons. All, except two Egyptian mummies, are from British contexts, with an estimated 80% being pre-Christian. Some burials (e.g. from Romano-British or early Medieval sites) cannot be firmly attributed to ‘pagan’ or Christian religions.

Total: 1000

How many of these human remains are well documented, with clear context of date and place of exhumation?:

99% are from properly recorded excavations and have precise findspots and stratigraphic information.

Where there are ancestors in store, is there a history of use?:

Yes, we keep detailed records of researcher projects

Where there are ancestors in store, is there potential for use, in display, education or scientific analysis?

Yes, but with careful thought in regard to ethical, as well as curatorial reasons.

Does the museum have a disposal policy, and is it including HR with negligible potential in its discussions about disposal?:No

The museums service does have a disposal policy but human remains are not included in it.

What sources of information about these human remains are in the public domain and where?:

A major documentation project of the archaeological collections is on-going. The database is available on the museums collections website, with new records being added all the time.

Does the museum have ancestors (human remains) on display?:Yes

One complete Bronze Age inhumation, displayed ‘as excavated’ with original grave goods, in the Prehistoric Gallery. One complete Iron Age unaccompanied skeleton, displayed ‘as excavated’ in an enclosed, recessed case, in the ‘Celtic World’ Gallery.

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?:

The museum holds the Iron Age chariot burials from Garton and Wetwang Slack but the human remains are not on display. Although, I believe, one burial used to be on display together with grave goods, the gallery now features a reconstruction of the people in life.

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