1. Professional anthropological and archaeological organizations have promulgated ethical guidelines on the use and curation of human remains.

2. The Department of Anthropology maintains collections of human skeletal remains as an essential part of fulfilling its educational and research mission. This policy is formulated to ensure that Departmental procedures regarding these activities are in accordance with professional ethical guidelines for use and curation.

3. The Laboratory of Anthropology (LOA) has curation responsibilities regarding human remains and associated artifacts. In addition, faculty, researchers, and students may have human remains from other collections or sources in their possession for the purposes of research and/or teaching.

4. The decision to accession human remains into Departmental collections will be made by the Head and the Directors of LOA in consultation, as appropriate, with other faculty members having expertise in archaeology and physical anthropology.

5. Faculty and researchers requesting Departmental accessioning of human remains covered by this policy shall present such requests in writing to the Head. This request will outline the educational and research value of the remains, evaluate as far as possible the ethnic, cultural, and chronological context of the remains, and document attempts to identify lineal or culturally related descendants who might claim the remains. If lineal or culturally affiliated descendants can be identified, the Department will not accession the remains unless written permission to do so is provided by these descendants.

6. Department members who intend to obtain on loan human remains covered by this policy from other institutions will notify the Head in writing prior to accepting the transfer of such remains to campus. It is the responsibility of Department faculty or researchers who obtain human remains on loan to ensure that their activities regarding these remains are in compliance with the appropriate federal and state laws and the stipulations of the loaning institution.

7. All human remains accessioned by the Department will be curated in accordance with the provisions and standards of 36 CFR Part 79 and general professional ethical standards.

8. The Department shall make human remains and associated artifacts available to qualified researchers for the purpose of scientific inquiry including destructive analysis, if justified. Interested researchers should submit proposals that address the purpose of the study, research design, analytical methods and techniques, and a timeline for submitting a final report. These proposals must be submitted for review to the Chair of the Osteology Committee and forwarded, with their recommendation, to the Head for approval or rejection. A full report describing the analysis, its results and significance is required to be submitted to the Department upon completion of the study.

9. Human remains and associated artifacts may be examined at the LOA facilities or borrowed by another educational institution or museum for analysis by a qualified researcher upon approval of an acceptable research proposal and in accordance with the Department's policies on loans.

10. Human remains may be used for educational and teaching purposes by Departmental faculty and researchers with the approval of the Head.

Last Updated September 2001