Human remains in museums: A summary of the Trust's views

1. The Wellcome Trust's mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. Human remains in museums make an important contribution in helping to achieve this mission:

i) as a resource for research in science and medicine, providing valuable information on human disease, health and medical treatments

ii) as the subject of display, providing direct and powerful insights into the body and medical and cultural practices.

2. As well as supporting these activities through research funding and exhibitions, the Wellcome Trust also owns a diverse array of material - ranging from antiquities, instruments, works of art, manuscripts, books and many other items - collected by Sir Henry Wellcome (the Trust's founder) over the course of his lifetime. A significant amount of this material has been on loan to the Science Museum since the 1970s, including over 500 human remains drawn from many different countries and dating from prehistoric times to the early 20th century.

3. The Wellcome Trust considers that all human remains occupy a unique status in museums and that they should be treated with respect and with high standards of care. We recognise that there are particular sensitivities around some remains, for example those of the recently deceased or those that are from communities where ongoing retention and/or use of remains can run counter to cultural practices and beliefs. Because these considerations are likely to differ between cases, it is important that any new guidance or regulations are flexible so that our response can take into account the individual circumstances of each.

4. We will always examine the context for displaying remains in exhibitions and consider carefully any concerns raised about them.

5. Requests for repatriation of remains currently held in the Science Museum's collections on the Wellcome Trust's behalf will be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the unique circumstances of each set of remains.

6. We believe that a voluntary code of practice, developed by the museums sector, would be desirable to help guide us and other institutions on some of the issues raised in terms of the care and retention of human remains in museums. We hope to participate in its development over coming months.

Read the Wellcome Trust's full response to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) consultation [PDF 56KB].

January 2005