Honouring the Ancient Dead Database

As part of our Your Local Museum project, Honouring the Ancient Dead (HAD) are compiling the first comprehensive on-line database of the ancestors and their bodily evidence in the UK, particularly focusing on those of British provenance falling outside of the scope of the Human Tissue Act.

This ground breaking initiative, designed to inform and provide a universal research resource for all, is supported by some significant authorities within the museum sector.

The purpose of the database is to:

  • promote dialogue between museums and local communities
  • build a primary resource for academic and general heritage research
  • engender debate about future strategies for the respectful treatment of the ancestors
  • identify opportunities within museums where consultation on the storage, display, inclusion in public programmes or reburial of the ancestors can be prioritised