Introduction

As discussed elsewhere in this book, ongoing anxieties exist about the contemporary treatment of human remains in society, which has fed recent academic discussions of the ethics around the archaeological engagement with the dead (Jenkins 2008; Moshenska 2009; Sayer 2009). This case study chapter outlines the care regime for human remains in Perth Museum and Art gallery (PMAG) and explores the public reaction to the display of those remains (in particular the medieval skeletal material displayed in the exhibition Skin and Bone: Life and Death in Medieval Perth).

Museums not Mausolea: Human Remains in Perth Museum and Art Gallery

If a museum houses human remains then it has a fundamental duty to care for them, with the term ‘care’ meaning both the broader dimension of looking after them in perpetuity and the narrower dimension of sharing their importance with a range of visitors and users. Frequently, the primary concern of museums caring for human remains relates to storage, with less emphasis on their display. This is not a hard and fast rule and being in storage does not, of course, mean being inaccessible. In fact, many visitors to PMAG see its mummy in storage and not in a gallery.