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A contribution to the current debate about ethics and human remains in 
bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology 
 
Review by Yassmine Ghalem 
 
 
SQUIRES, KIRSTY, DAVID ERRICKSON, and NICHOLAS MÁRQUEZ-GRANT. 2019. 
Ethical approaches to human remains: A global challenge in bioarchaeology and forensic 
anthropology, Springer, 649 pp, ISBN 978-3-030-32925-9 
 
Keywords: Ethics in Biological and Physical Anthropology, Ethics in Forensic Anthropology, 
Treatment of Human Remains, Repatriation of Human Remains, Multidisciplinary  
 

Amongst sciences that study the human body, anthropology has a critical and dark history 

surrounding the treatment of human remains. For instance, it is widely known that pioneers in 

the discipline collected human remains under conditions that today are considered dubious and 

unethical (Clegg 2020). More recently, anthropologists have adopted a more ethical approach by 

questioning the origin of human remains and the context of their acquisition (Fluehr-Lobban 

2008; Klenk 2010). Along the same line, universities, museums, organizations, and associations 

have developed guides and codes of ethics to regulate, standardize and implement ethical 

practices within the discipline (AAPA 2003; BABAO 2010a, 2010b; WAC 2018). Ethical 

Approaches to Human Remains. A Global Challenge in Bioarchaeology and Forensic 

Anthropology, is a consolidated volume that brings together 30 chapters written by 

anthropologists and scholars from various disciplines to contribute to current issues, challenges 

and topics associated with human remains and ethics. 

 

The volume is structured in three sections, excluding the introduction and the conclusion. The 

introduction addresses the lack of literature gathering current issues about human remains under 

one manuscript. The authors disclose that the objectives of the volume are to raise awareness 



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towards the treatment of human remains, put forward a worldview of challenges and offer 

recommendations and considerations for their future implementations. The first section of the 

book, Ethical issues surrounding human remains, explores ethical concerns related to human 

remains from a philosophical and social angle. Authors discuss consent, dignity of the dead and 

human right after death, representativeness of human remains in research, unethical past 

practices, and ethical transformations in the profession of human anatomy, and issues raised by 

the online human remains trade. The second section, Ethical dilemmas in bioarchaeology and 

forensic anthropology is written from the perspective of scholars based in the United Kingdom. 

Chapters in this section explore ethical dilemmas encountered in bioarchaeology and forensic 

anthropology, such as the excavation, analysis, curation, and display of human remains along 

with challenges caused by the rise of social media, use of digital data, and creation of human 

taphonomy facilities. The third section, Global perspectives and case studies, presents case 

studies where practitioners have faced ethical dilemmas during recovery, identification, and 

repatriation of human remains in various regions of the world. These case studies outline good 

practices while also outlining challenges that must be considered in the process of developing 

ethical practices in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology in different parts of the world. 

Concluding remarks summarize main topics and current issues, such as collaborations with 

descendants and local communities, the rise of destructive or invasive sampling, social media, 

and 3D data. The authors conclude with recommendations for best practices drawn from the 

contributions of the specialists in this volume. 

 

The highlight of this book is that each chapter offers a unique perspective on a specific subject 

about human remains. The myriad authors’ specializations enables this book to be accessible for 

a large audience. Hence, by discussing ethical dilemmas, rising issues and challenges 

encountered in various countries, this manuscript contributes to the current discussion about 

ethics and human remains emerging in multiple disciplines. In addition, it addresses 

considerations related to consent, right of the dead, respect, descendant communities, 

repatriation, and Indigenous people’s voices. One can say that even if a reader is not specifically 

interested in human remains, the content of this book makes it possible to learn about other 

aspects of a particular case, as it is viewed under different lenses (e.g., human remains treatment 

during the Spanish Civil War and World Wars). From academics to the public, there is 



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something for everyone. Furthermore, multiple chapters propose recommendations, guides, and 

codes to consider while working with human remains. These suggestions can be helpful to 

implement guidelines and codes of ethics in institutions with collections of human remains that 

are not regulated yet by an ethical framework. Although the second section mainly focuses on 

practices in the United Kingdom, it is significant to note that cases invoked can help guide, 

advise, and inspire researchers and specialists facing similar situations. Moreover, the volume 

can be beneficial in training students to adopt good practices while working with human remains. 

 

Another fundamental aspect of this book is the prominence of collaboration with communities, 

descendants, and Indigenous people. For a long time, the relationship between scholars and 

communities has been neglected. Nowadays, practices demonstrate a paradigm shift concerning 

the involvement of stakeholders, where research would be considered unethical without the 

permission and consent of descendant communities. This good practice is one of the founding 

principles of research ethics. Aside from the emphasis on collaboration, the volume includes 

chapters written by scholars that are part of local communities. For instance, Chapter 19, Ethical 

issues of Bioarchaeology in New Zealand-Aotearoa: Relationships, Research, and Repatriation, 

provides a review from both a Māori and bioarchaeological perspective on repatriation matters 

related to kōiwi tangata Māori (ancestral remains). One of the authors of this chapter (Amber 

Aranui) is a Māori repatriation researcher, and her perception on the issues surrounding the use 

of Māori human skeletal remains offers a profound analysis for readers. This volume 

demonstrates positive outcomes of forming partnerships and engaging in collaboration with 

communities.  Thus, in a manuscript discussing ethics, it is evidently more ethical to include 

diverse voices, such as local communities, descendants, and Indigenous people, to acquire 

distinct perspectives on topics that, for a long time, have been extensively and unilaterally 

analyzed by foreign scholars.  

 

The volume touches on worldwide issues and challenges, and naturally cannot exhaustively 

review all queries about ethics and human remains. However, in a decolonization setting, it 

would have been relevant to further explore the topic of repatriation. For instance, institutions 

such as museums and universities with collections of human remains originating from other 

countries should question the origin of these remains, and be more aware of the subtle, yet highly 



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significant difference between “repatriation” and “restitution” (Bienkowski 2013). Interestingly, 

only Chapter 20, Ethical Considerations of Human Remains Based Research in Argentina briefly 

mentions “restitution” but without distinguishing it from “repatriation.” Moreover, concerns 

surrounding access to human remains (e.g., ownership and stewardship) and the vicious race 

between researchers to access rare ancient human remains to perform destructive analysis (to 

obtain ancient DNA) have not been amply explored and require an extensive discussion beyond 

this book.   

 

Undoubtedly, present-day practices in anthropology are widely different compared to the early 

days of the discipline. For instance, research ethics committees of most universities and research 

institutions request ethical permission for research when working with human remains. Hence, 

researchers must anticipate ethical questions even before starting a research project. Nonetheless, 

practices are not flawless, and much remains to be done. In this regard, Ethical Approaches to 

Human Remains contributes to the current debate about the treatment of human remains around 

the world. The volume presents a current perspective on ethical challenges faced by specialists 

and practitioners, along with emerging matters rarely addressed in the literature, in particular 

digital ethics, the use of social media, the views of Indigenous communities and collaborative 

work. The various topic raised, and the recommendations provided by the authors are expected to 

be significant in improving practices. Ultimately, this manuscript serves as a reminder for 

anthropologists and other practitioners to not neglect their ethical responsibility towards human 

remains and descendant communities.  

 

Works Cited: 
 
American Association of Biological Anthropologists [AABA]. Code of Ethics of the American 
Association of Physical Anthropologists. 2003. http://physanth.org/about/committees/ethics/
aapa-code-ethics-and-other-ethics-resources/. Accessed 2 March 2022. 
 
Bienkowski, Piotr. "A critique of museum restitution and repatriation practices." The 
international handbooks of museum studies (2013): 431-453. 
 
British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology [BABAO]. Code of 
Ethics. 2010a. http://babao.org.uk/assets/Uploads/code-of-ethics.pdf. Accessed 2 March 2022. 
 



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British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology [BABAO]. Code of 
Practice. 2010b. http://www.babao.org.uk/assets/Uploads/code-of-practice.pdf. Accessed 2 
March 2022. 
 
Clegg, Margaret. Human Remains: Curation, Reburial and Repatriation. Cambridge University 
Press, 2020.  
 
Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn. "Collaborative anthropology as twenty-first-century ethical 
anthropology." Collaborative anthropologies 1, no. 1 (2008): 175-182. doi:10.1353/cla.0.0000. 
 
Klenk, Michael. "Moral philosophy and the ‘ethical turn’in anthropology." Zeitschrift für Ethik 
und Moralphilosophie 2, no. 2 (2019): 331-353. 
 
World Archaeology Congress [WAC]. Code of Ethics. 2018. http://worldarch.org/code-of-ethics/ 
 
 
Yassmine Ghalem is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at Université de 
Montréal specializing in biological anthropology.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

© 2022 Yassmine Ghalem 

 


