"Escaping Burke and Hare: The Ethics of Graveyard Archaeology"
Introduction
The stereotype of the archaeologist as grave robber is an unfortunate trope that has clung unshakably to the practice since its earliest days. From colonialist treasure-seekers to today’s media-driven misconceptions, a number of negative influences serve as strong evidence for the imperative to archaeologists to have strong professional ethics. While no area of archaeology is free from the need to make ethical decisions, certain aspects require a significantly greater amount of careful thought. Perhaps the most ethically tricky area of archaeology is practiced by those archaeologists who excavate burial sites. In these cases, it is not enough to merely consider the ethical qualms that come with the excavation of human remains; the excavation practices need to be crafted to address the concerns specific to each excavation. But how best to go about this? How can cultural and ethical concerns be addressed in excavation practice? These are questions that merit discussion, for they effect any excavation which might uncover human remains.
Cultural Concerns
In order to discuss these ethical concerns, they must first be identified. Cultural connections to human remains are perhaps the most important of the ethical concerns, both for making personal decisions about their involvement with human remains and for deciding how to manage the excavation. This is especially true if the culture in question is extant or has one or more clearly defined descendant groups. There have been clashes between scientific analysis and the concerns of such groups worldwide; in Britain, spiritual descendant groups of the neolithic people who constructed Stonehenge call for better treatment of the people they deem their ancestors, while in the United States Native American groups use the umbrella of NAGPRA to ensure fair treatment of their ancestors. The question here becomes the debate between the scientific value of the remains and the cultural importance of leaving them undisturbed. Also, while many religions acknowledge a dualism of soul and body, it takes an unusual amount of desensitization to have no reaction to the sight of human remains. These concerns can lead to personal issues for archaeologists and can affect their choices of digging locations. Buddhists view the disturbance of human remains as inappropriate, while practitioners of Shinto see the dead body as dangerous. This is especially true of modern bodies; what “some would consider as legitimate to scientific inquiry [is] tantamount to desecration to others.” Religion, of course, is not the only factor in these decisions. Secular cultural relevancies and traditions also lead to the development of ethical practices.
Established Practice and Descendant Groups
Established archaeological practices play a very important role in the development of ethical excavations. For example, it is generally agreed among many archaeologists that historical graveyards should not be excavated unless the site is in danger. However, prehistoric burial sites are not often afforded such reluctance. Regardless of age, there is always an element of violation when excavating intentional burial sites. Memorials have a living memory of their own– bodies are deposited with intent. Unfortunately, sometimes this intent is unclear. This is where descendant groups can be either very helpful or very harmful to the integrity of the excavation. This is seen in many high-profile excavations, especially when the human remains in question are of contested origins. The Kennewick Man is perhaps the most famous of these, with dozens of groups claiming his bones as those of their ancestors. When a case is as contested as this one, it is vital for the archaeologists involved to make sure that the group or groups with the most legitimate claim are the ones involved with the excavation. Stonehenge has also seen its fair share of non-linear descendant groups; modern druids and pagans claim the remains found there as their ancestors, despite no proof of a genetic link. Cooperation with descendent groups is absolutely necessary for the ethical treatment of human remains. While negotiations may be thorny and can last for years, often they come with great reward. In the United States, anthropologists working under NAGPRA have been forced to repatriate many Native American skeletons. Historically, though, many of these skeletal collections were neglected. In Mississippi, only 16.4% of the skeletons collected before NAGPRA had been studied at all. In contrast, 97.9% of skeletons collected in Iowa had been studied, which is important because Iowa has the longest history of repatriation of any state. This demonstrates the effectiveness of cooperation with descendent groups- it provides motivation and occasionally funding for research.
Safety Issues
Next to the moral ethical concerns, there are physicalities involved with the excavation of human remains that need to be addressed. Often they are found in unstable ground conditions, where grave digging activity has made the soil loose. Historic bodies also have the rick of harboring pathogens; even today, there are concerns that the bodies of smallpox victims represent a health threat. The safety of the excavators and of the general public is a vital ethical concern in these excavations, and although the situation of each excavation is unique, a set of basic safety precautions should be observed at all burial sites. At prehistoric sites, an observation of difficult terrain might be the only extra safety precaution taken. At a modern site, the British Institute of Field Archaeologists recommends heavy gloves, a body suit, and a head-covering filter mask as part of any site’s list of rules. While this might seem extreme, it demonstrates just how important it is not to overlook safety concerns. Human remains are not a subject to be taken lightly– engaging with them can provide an active risk to excavators, a risk that it would be highly unethical to ignore.
Beyond Discussion: Putting Ethics Into Practice
These are the key features needed to form a good ethical practice while excavating human remains. Having them theoretically, however, is not enough. It would be useful to examine their applications in the field in order to see how actually putting these practices into use works. While no excavations are identical, there are several instances that can be considered landmark cases that highlight the benefits of taking these ethical concerns into consideration. One of the notable instances is the excavation of the African Burial Ground in New York City. After the initial discovery in 1991, the concerns of the descendants of the graveyard’s inhabitants were immediately taken into effect. Construction was halted, the site’s plans were altered to include a memorial, and, perhaps most importantly, the remains were sent to Howard University for study. Howard, being a historically Black institution, was seen as a good choice because it was obvious that they would take the descendant group’s interests to heart. While this meant that the bones would have to travel further, this was a case of an obvious biological descendant group expressing their wishes and having them honored. All in all, the excavation was considered a triumph for both the descendant group and the scientists. While initially there were struggles with the site’s memorial plans, the handling of the remains from the African Burial Ground during excavation, research, and reburial was considered a great success by civil rights activists, scientists, and citizens alike.
The importance of these ethical concerns has led several organizations to release official best practice policies and codes of ethics for their excavations. While no two excavations are the same, best practice statements are an excellent base for ensuring the observation of ethics in the field. The World Anthropology Council’s Vermillion Accord on Human Remains is a prominent example of one such policy. The seven articles of the accord were drafted to create a balance between scientific and spiritual value. They explicitly address the indispensability of legitimatizing the concerns of both scientists and descendent groups, as well as insisting upon respect for all human remains. Notably, the accord also creates a hierarchy of legitimacy for the concerns of various groups in the way that it is numbered. First precedence goes to the “wishes of the dead… when they are known or can be reasonably inferred,” and then to “the local community and the relatives of the dead.” This is important, for cultures change and certain descendant groups can carry their own agendas, so the article protects the original depositors’ intentions. The WAC’s ethics code also contains accords detailing the proper treatment and display of sacred objects. This includes grave goods and other elements that give the human remains context.
The British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology has its own ethics code that deals more strictly with human remains and the behavior of the archaeologists who excavate and study them. They point out that the politically-correct tendency to allow reburial is not always the ethical decision:
“Destruction of information about our past by indiscriminate reburial of skeletal
collections is unethical. Nevertheless, in some cases of contested remains, moral
rights of a claimant group over the remains may outweigh this consideration, so
that reburial rather than retention is the more appropriate response.”
BABAO also emphasizes the role of the archaeologist as an educator, addressing the concern of accessibility. Essentially, they make it a point in their code of professional ethics to discourage sensationalism and exaggeration of the conditions surrounding the excavation of human remains; they do their part to make sure that the myth of the graverobber is not perpetuated.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the excavation of grave sites is a delicate issue and one that requires a multifaceted approach in each situation. However, with the careful consideration of the ethical issues involved, it is possible to excavate without arousing moral concerns. By respecting the desires and traditions of one’s own culture, honoring the culture or cultures tied closely to the excavation’s subject, and adhering to overarching ethical guidelines, an archaeologist can shape their own best practice and address the multifaceted ethical issues that come with the excavation of human remains.
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