Prawne, kulturowe i etyczne aspekty eksponowania szczątków ludzkich w muzeach

• Authors: Kalka Piotr

Title variants

EN

Legal, cultural and ethical aspects of displaying human remains in museums

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The issue of exhibiting human remains in museums is increasingly becoming the subject of considerations on the legal, ethical and practical side of this matter. Museums where human remains are most often exhibited are archaeological and ethnographic museums, as well as museums of medicine and anatomy. From a legal point of view, different countries around the world have different regulations regarding the status of human remains. Despite the differences, the regulations most often protect the subjectivity of human corpses, and their deliberate desecration or profanation is subject to legal sanctions. Also in the museology specialist community, the question is raised more and more often whether displaying human remains at exhibitions is a proper practice. This applies to both remains obtained as a result of archaeological excavations and ethnographic research. In many countries (USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Sweden, etc.), legal regulations are being developed obliging museum institutions storing remains to repatriate them to representatives of indigenous peoples living in given countries (e.g. Native Americans, Indigenous inhabitants of Australia, Sámi people, etc.). The situation is slightly different when it comes to exhibiting human remains obtained from prehistoric sites, which are difficult to identify with a specific contemporary people or tribe. But also in these cases, decisions are sometimes made to resign from the exhibition, and even reburial. It seems that the institutional practice of museums is evolving towards limiting or even completely abandoning the display of human remains in favour of presenting a digital copy, i.e. a representation of the data of the remains, either in the form of photogrammetric photos, a digital scan, or a three-dimensional hologram. Regardless of the approach to this difficult issue, the most important task faced by the community of both researchers who obtain human remains as a result of their work, and museum specialists, is to find such forms of expression and presentation of the obtained remains that the exhibitions prepared are in line with the principles of ethics and respect for the dignity of death.

Keywords

PL

muzeum; archeologia; wystawa; szczątki ludzkie; cmentarzysko; grób

EN

museum; archaeology; exhibition; human remains; cemetery; grave

• Publisher: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku
• Journal: Pomorania Antiqua
• Year: 2023
• Volume: Tom XXXII
• Pages: 7–38

Dates

published

2023-11-10

Contributors

author

Kalka Piotr

• Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku, Plac W. Bartoszewskiego 1, 80-862 Gdańsk