A new initiative led by archaeologists and Indigenous scholars is calling for more respectful care of human remains and burial items housed in museums and research institutions. The effort emphasizes the importance of treating these ancestral remains with dignity rather than storing them in plastic bags or boxes. The group laid out its approach in a paper published this month in the journal Advances in Archaeological Practice. Assistant Professor of Sociology, IBS Affiliate, and archaeology curator at the CU museum, William Taylor, was the senior author for the paper. He highlights how current practices often disregard the cultural and spiritual significance of these remains, and how the initiative aims to promote more culturally sensitive approaches.
