Sheffield Museums Trust
2nd Floor
Orchard House
Leopold Street
Sheffield
S1 2GY
01142782613
Website: http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/
Parent Organisation:
Funded by:
We are a Museum Trust who manage the collections ‘owned’ by Sheffield City Council. We receive funding from SCC as our local authority but also (currently) from MLA as a Lead Hub museum in South Yorkshire. We are also a RFO of the Arts Council. Other funding is raised by grant applications etc.
YLM Entry Submitted: Yes
Comments:
Archaeological collections are mostly displayed at the site ‘Weston Park Museum’. The remainder are held in an off-site storage location.
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?:
We have 170 database entries containing human remains of some kind. Some comprise multiple individuals (at least 5 extra taking the figure to 175). Not all though have been clearly identified as human remains, some are suspected. Note this does not include the mummified remains; possibly they are not listed under human remains but under mummified remains which is why they didn’t show up in the search. Of these, 11 are identified as post-Christian, 63 have no dating information listed, although are primarily from pre-Christian sites (although reuse as burial/cremation sites into the post-medieval period is not unknown at such sites). Therefore we could probably say around 95% are likely to be pre-Christian? 2 are identified as non-British 12 have no site information listed.
Total: 175
How many of these human remains are well documented, with clear context of date and place of exhumation?:
The rest are reasonably well identified at least though there are limitations depending on the period during which they were exhumed – e.g. Bateman material might list the site they were exhumed from but there is no contextual information as you would expect in more recent archaeological excavations. We are not sure, without further detailed research, of the date of exhumation as this information is not captured in the database. We would need to look at each individual catalogue card and research some in great detail.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there a history of use?:
Any information will be in the relevant object files and possibly noted on some catalogue cards. We have not been able to research this fully – and it is highly likely that the information is sporadic.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there potential for use, in display, education or scientific analysis?
At present we are not in a position to consider redisplaying any of our archaeological material without a curator in post. At present, given the remit of our museum we may question how appropriate or respectful it would be to interpret/use human remains. Under a full staffing arrangement we would provide access to human material for education and also for research and scientific analysis (we have supported research at various levels from Sheffield University up until the last year). But this is not something we have the capacity to do at present.
Does the museum have a disposal policy, and is it including HR with negligible potential in its discussions about disposal?:Yes
Yes we do have a disposal policy. We are not engaged in any discussions about disposal of any human material in the absence of a curator – and access to appropriate specialist advice. Should we wish to consider such disposal in the future we would consult widely within the museum community, with HAD and other relevant parties.
What sources of information about these human remains are in the public domain and where?:
There is reference to material on IDIG Sheffield. Once again, without a curator we have been unable to fulfil this part of our remit. If the information we provide can be used on the HAD database this will go in part toward helping us to achieve this aim.
Does the museum have ancestors (human remains) on display?:No
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 does hold some complete material related to Bateman’s excavations, but we are not at present in a position to understand whether this material would be deemed iconic. This material is not on display.
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:
10 November, 2010
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