Pitt Rivers Museum
South Parks Road
Oxford
OX1 3PP
Website: http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/
Additional web links: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/human-remains-pitt-rivers-museum-university-oxford
Parent Organisation:
Funded by:
A mixture of university, national heritage, and education funding; it is one of the university museums at Oxford.
YLM Entry Submitted: Yes
Comments:
A comprehensive Policy that promotes the scientific benefits of keeping Human Remains for potential future research, but does its best to determine criteria for a claim.
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?:
A basic search of the museum’s online database calls up 310 records containing human remains. Of these 108 are from the UK. At least 69 entries appear to be of ancient British or pre-Christian provenance, however, 60 of those entries has been de-accessioned to other museums, notably the Ashmolean and the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. There are very few non-artefactual human remains with most being casts, charms etc. All are listed in the museum’s online database.
Total: 310
How many of these human remains are well documented, with clear context of date and place of exhumation?:
The documentation for the 69 entries identified is extensive, including the number of remains, their physical nature and provenance, and status in the collection, though place of exhumation is not always known. Where date is difficult to determine a general time period is usually specified.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there a history of use?:
Such information is available in the catalogue entries for each object.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there potential for use, in display, education or scientific analysis?
Does the museum have a disposal policy, and is it including HR with negligible potential in its discussions about disposal?:Yes
The museum follows the University policy on human remains which does not favour disposal.
What sources of information about these human remains are in the public domain and where?:
Accession information on all objects in the collection are available online at the museum’s website through the links to collections and databases section.
Does the museum have ancestors (human remains) on display?:Yes
Yes there are remains on display and these are in the context of the historic nature of the displays of the PRM; most are artefactual and illustrate human society across time. 80% of the museum’s collection is on display.
No direct comment. It should be noted that the PRM has worked in the past, and will continue to work with various local focus groups to further understand how the museum and its function and purpose is perceived by the public. It is possible that a neo-pagan focus group could be coordinated and consulted at some time in the future.
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?:
There are no such remains in the collection.
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:
https://www.honour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/formidable/2_4787.pdf
https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/human-remains-pitt-rivers-museum-university-oxford
26 August, 2008
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