I was quenching my cultural thirst last week at a beautiful museum ( I won't say which one, because I'm about to criticise it!) and having a lovely time. I happened, however, upon the oddest thing. In a glass display case, about the size of a small TV, and lit with a bright spotlight, was a pile of bones. A skull, some ribs, a femur and part of a spine were parts I could make out. A sign accompanied the display which read along the lines of 'these are the remains of a prehistoric man. We treat the remains with the care and dignity they deserve'.
'Care' is a curatorial task, clearly the bones were well preserved and secure etc. Dignity? Heaped in a pile in a glass box with a spotlight and gawped at by passing tourists? Im not sure that qualifies as any sensible definition of dignified. Its certainly not how I would like to end up, and I am the most likely person alive to want to be displayed in a museum! I wouldn't want that now, in 10 years, or in 10,000 years. Many museums do this, and it is becoming a controversial point. No less a giant than the British museum recently returned two ash bundles to Tasmania for traditional burial, and quite rightly too.
There are two sensibilities that are offended here. Firstly, our own understanding of how to treat a corpse seems sharply at odds with the practices that we enjoy seeing at museums. But perhaps more importantly, the individuals 'on display' likely had even more cherished notions of the afterlife than we do. Indeed, mummies on display in several museums violate the deepest sanctity of Ancient Egyptian religous practice, that a body should not be disturbed from its resting place. Countless pharoahs spent fortunes on vast tomb complexes, in part to ensure that their place in the 'field of reeds' would go unmolested. Without a say in the modern world, these ancient peoples and many like them have ended up in a sad place indeed.
I appreciate the value of historic research, and would be the first volunteer to take part in a detailed study of any ancient remains. It is vital to capture the facts of lost civilisations, there is no better way of preserving them. But once the study has reached its conclusion, it should be the most natural thing in the world to return the remains to their resting place. I baulk at the idea that the remains of Roman babies and young children are sat in display cases across the country. I can only imagine the horror of the parents if they had had an inkling of the future fate of their loved ones.
Suffice it to say, the Mobile Museum will not be displaying dead people any time soon...
'Care' is a curatorial task, clearly the bones were well preserved and secure etc. Dignity? Heaped in a pile in a glass box with a spotlight and gawped at by passing tourists? Im not sure that qualifies as any sensible definition of dignified. Its certainly not how I would like to end up, and I am the most likely person alive to want to be displayed in a museum! I wouldn't want that now, in 10 years, or in 10,000 years. Many museums do this, and it is becoming a controversial point. No less a giant than the British museum recently returned two ash bundles to Tasmania for traditional burial, and quite rightly too.
There are two sensibilities that are offended here. Firstly, our own understanding of how to treat a corpse seems sharply at odds with the practices that we enjoy seeing at museums. But perhaps more importantly, the individuals 'on display' likely had even more cherished notions of the afterlife than we do. Indeed, mummies on display in several museums violate the deepest sanctity of Ancient Egyptian religous practice, that a body should not be disturbed from its resting place. Countless pharoahs spent fortunes on vast tomb complexes, in part to ensure that their place in the 'field of reeds' would go unmolested. Without a say in the modern world, these ancient peoples and many like them have ended up in a sad place indeed.
I appreciate the value of historic research, and would be the first volunteer to take part in a detailed study of any ancient remains. It is vital to capture the facts of lost civilisations, there is no better way of preserving them. But once the study has reached its conclusion, it should be the most natural thing in the world to return the remains to their resting place. I baulk at the idea that the remains of Roman babies and young children are sat in display cases across the country. I can only imagine the horror of the parents if they had had an inkling of the future fate of their loved ones.
Suffice it to say, the Mobile Museum will not be displaying dead people any time soon...
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