Management of osteological collections: logistical, scientific, ethical and legal aspects
Period : 2025-2028
UniGe Manager :
Dre Claudine Abegg
Partners : Prof. Marie Besse , Dr. Lionel Pernet, Dre Hélène Blitte , Dre Geneviève Perréard, Dre Claire Brizon (MCAH), Audrey Gallay (Archéodunum), Sophie Thorimbert (Archeodunum)
Funding : Université de Genève, Musée Cantonal d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de Lausanne (MCAH), soutenu par la Fondation UBS pour la culture
During archaeological excavations, forensic investigations or chance discoveries by the public, human remains are regularly unearthed. They are then generally entrusted to museums or universities for conservation, study and promotion.
But this practice raises many questions: under what conditions are these remains preserved? How can researchers access them? What are the consequences of so-called ‘destructive’ analyses on skeletons, and how can their use be regulated in accordance with the principle of long-term preservation of collections? What about the respect due to these individuals, in the name of the human dignity recognised for everyone, even after death? What are the legal obligations and ethical responsibilities associated with their management? The right to memory and the need for transparency must also be taken into account in this complex context.
This project, led by Dre Claudine Abegg, aims to answer these questions by developing a transdisciplinary and collaborative reflection on the management of human osteological collections, conceived as coherent, evolving and based on ethical principles.
It is organised around four areas:
Logistical management (storage, inventory, traceability of studies and data, circulation of remains);
Scientific management (applied methods, assessment of benefits and costs, data sharing, good ethical practices in academia);
Reflection on ethical and legal issues (anonymity, rehumanisation, exhibition, online sale of human remains, etc.).
To carry out this process, we are developing our thinking in partnership with several institutions and researchers, but also by opening up this discussion to the public, with the aim of making the management of human osteological collections a subject of debate not only in scientific circles, but also in society at large — in an era that tends to render the dead invisible or erase them.
You can find the project page on the website of our partner institution, MCAH, by clicking here.