Reading Museum
The Town Hall
Blagrave Street
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 1QH
01189373400
Website: http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/
Parent Organisation:
Funded by:
Local Authority
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?:
The museum is in the process of documenting their human remains in detail. When this has been completed they will be in a position to assess the number of individuals represented. This is unlikely to exceed 250.
Total: 250
How many of these human remains are well documented, with clear context of date and place of exhumation?:
Improved documentation is in process, together with the improvement of storage for human remains.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there a history of use?:
Yes.
Where there are ancestors in store, is there potential for use, in display, education or scientific analysis?
Yes.
Does the museum have a disposal policy, and is it including HR with negligible potential in its discussions about disposal?:Yes
The museum does has a disposal policy, but there is a strong presumption against the disposal of any items in the museum’s collection.
What sources of information about these human remains are in the public domain and where?:
The archaeological sites from which some of the human remains were excavated have largely been published in local and national archaeological journals.
Does the museum have ancestors (human remains) on display?:Yes
The diseased arm bone of a medieval (postNorman) woman is on display beside some grave good from the cemetery where she was buried.
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 cares for human remains from a number of cemeteries and burial sites. They say that they regard all of them as of equal significance.
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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