Course: Archaeology and the Battle of Dunbar 1650: From the Scottish Battlefield to the New World

During the summer of 2018, a public exhibition at Palace Green Library told the story of the Scottish prisoners. You will learn more about this in Step 6.11. During that …

Rather than being reburied, most human remains excavated in the UK are curated in museums, in commercial archaeology units, and in universities. As a consequence, the way they are looked …

This short film shows bioarchaeologist Charlotte Roberts laying out human remains for display. It is a different way of introducing museum visitors to our work. People are often fascinated to …

In the UK, the Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) advises museums about the display of human remains. They call for both respect for the diversity of …

This video includes footage of the reburial of the Scottish Soldiers in Durham; Anwen Caffell and Chris Gerrard provide insights into the choices made about the graveside service.

The remains of the Scottish soldiers were reburied in Elvet Hill Road cemetery (historically named Bow cemetery) on 18 May 2018. Sophie Daniels, Culture Durham, records her thoughts on the …

Watch this short video for insight into the decisions taken around commemoration and reburial of the Scottish soldiers. Make sure you read the rest of this week’s content for the …

The reburial and repatriation of human remains is the subject of active debate in the archaeology and museum worlds. Where the remains of indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and …

This is a ‘behind-the-scenes’ video, rather like the ones you sometimes see at the end of wildlife documentaries which explain how things were done. In this case we show you …

Once they have been excavated, human remains are cleaned, dried, packaged into boxes, and then analysed. This is all done in a secure and respectful environment and this is what …

Skeletons are complex and their excavation is always technically challenging. An adult skeleton normally has 206 bones but there are more in a new-born baby (450) and even more before …

Archaeology concerns the reconstruction of past lives from the material remains (or evidence) that are excavated. Those remains include artefacts like pottery, tools and coins; traces of structures such as …

Charlotte Roberts introduces our subject for this week: the importance of ethics, particularly in the context of human remains and their study by archaeologists.

Many of the Dunbar Scots who died in New England enjoyed a long life. Quite a number lived into the 18th century, when they would have been over 65 years …

Very few historic buildings of the 17th century survive across New England today in anything close to their original condition. The unsettled times would perhaps have discouraged the Scots from …