Introduction

The primary purpose of this book is to discuss the curation of human remains within the United Kingdom (UK). However, one can only understand UK issues if one is also aware of how remains are viewed, defined and curated elsewhere in the world. Legal and social considerations differ widely among and between countries and cultures relative to the handling of human remains (Clegg et al in press; Lohman and Goodnow 2006). The goal of this chapter is to provide examples of international perspectives to place UK issues into a broader context.

obviously, individual and local perspectives on human remains are driven by many factors, but simplistically, they are usually rooted in historic and/or legal differences among countries. However, it is not the intention here to provide a treatise on different legal systems, but rather to discuss core reasons why perspectives are what they are and then to place them into a useful context for consideration relative to UK curation issues. For example, the most basic core question is ‘what are human remains?’

This question seems trivial on the surface, but how you answer it will vary depending upon your view of the recent versus ancient dead, whether the remains are those of your ancestors versus your enemies' ancestors, or whether they are medical specimens, mummies, or collections on display or in storage.