But who will speak for the dead?

Tollund Man - bog body

Throughout my archaeology of death class we have been viewing pictures of different burial sites, which can include pictures of the remains of individuals.  The pictures I find most graphic are those of mummies or bog bodies, which still have their skin mostly intact and can be visualized as a living person.  This visualization is harder to achieve with just a skeleton, making it easier for me to emotionally separate.  But, in the end, these were still living, breathing people.  You can’t help but wonder how they would have felt about their bodies being exhumed and put on display.

Nowadays, you can consent to donate your body to science after death.  An extreme example of this is the Body Worlds exhibition that travels to different museums.  For this, the body has undergone plastination to preserve parts of the body to demonstrate different aspects of human physiology.

One of many bodies at the Body Worlds exhibition

 However, the display of other bodies – mummies for example – is completely different.  These individuals can give no consent.  Exhumation may be greatly against their final wishes.  For this reason, I think it is important to treat these bodies with respect, and to return the remains to the original homeland after analysis so that they may be properly interred once again.  I will not deny that the remains we find have a lot of value to piecing together the puzzle of the past, and the finds themselves are utterly fascinating, but this must not overshadow their importance as people.

Frozen Inca mummy

The dead cannot speak for themselves, so it is us that need to remember to show respect. 

 

Picture sources:

Body Worlds exhibition: http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html
Frozen Inca mummy: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/photogalleries/mummy-pictures/
Tollund Man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tollund_Man