Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) has transformed how archaeologists conceive of ethical research and curatorial practice involving human remains. For example, most US museums refrain from the display of human remains, and many academic journals, including the flagship journals of the SAA, restrict the publication of photographs of human remains. While these measures are supported by many North American Indigenous groups (and archaeologists), they do not fully account for perspectives outside of the US and Canada, particularly those from Latin America where stakeholders have different relationships with the dead and attitudes toward the display of remains. How should archaeology proceed when descendant communities’ wishes conflict with dominant attitudes in the Global North? Does the extension of a US-centered ethos onto research and engagement in the Global South risk reproducing forms of cultural imperialism? Alternatively, if the alienation of descendant communities from their ancestors is in part a consequence of colonialism, what are the implications of using this ambivalence to justify bioarchaeological research in Latin America? This forum will grapple with the challenges and nuances of ethical praxis in countries where social attitudes toward the dead vary and legal guidelines for their protection are nonexistent or underdeveloped.

Other Keywords
Mesoamerica • North America • South America • Bioarchaeology/Skeletal Analysis

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)

  • Documents (8)
Documents
  • Ancestors, Archaeology, and Ethics in Central Mexico (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa Overholtzer.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While engaging in collaborative fieldwork at Xaltocan in 2009, I was surprised that descendants wished to exhibit all their excavated ancestors in the community museum. Subsequent ethnographic research with Juan Argueta showed that displaying and analyzing the dead was a crucial tool in affirming their...

  • Diverse Perspectives on Precolonial Maya Human Remains and the Foreigners who Study Them (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Andrew Scherer.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ethics surrounding the study of the skeletal remains of the “ancient Maya” are fraught and variable. For much of the second millennium AD, large swaths of the southern Maya lowlands were sparsely occupied by indigenous peoples, with population booms spurred by internal migration only in recent decades....

  • Ethical Bioarchaeology in Practice: The View from Cusco, Peru (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bethany Turner.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. NAGPRA has served as a crucial signpost for U.S. bioarchaeologists in their efforts to be and do better, including those who study skeletal individuals from (and in) other regions of the world. In these contexts, the most important NAGPRA directive is arguably for U.S. bioarchaeologists to center the...

  • Ethical Considerations for Human Remains in an International Context (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Dorothy Lippert.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the United States, the repatriation of Native American ancestors has been ongoing for over 30 years, governed by the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). These laws do not apply to the remains of non-Native American...

  • Hall 25: Beyond the American Ancestors of Americanist Archaeology (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Christopher Heaney.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 1965, the Smithsonian’s first Hall of Physical Anthropology opened with a “Skull Wall” whose 160 crania of “Peruvian Indians” visualized how the world’s population “exploded in historic times.” The wall came down in advance of NAGPRA, followed by other ancestors and human remains displayed in American...

  • Indigenous movements for the return of ancestors in South America and their repercussions on ethical discussions on the respectful treatment of human bodies (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Patricia Ayala.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The colonization of South America presented diverse characteristics depending on the colonial powers involved and the Indigenous Peoples subjected to colonization, who early on witnessed the destruction of their cemeteries and the prohibition of their religious practices. The subsequent formation of...

  • The Influence of NAGPRA Abroad: Examples from Ecuador (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Maria Ordoñez.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), essential for the ethical treatment of indigenous remains and cultural artifacts in the U.S., has had unintended consequences beyond its borders. This presentation examines the impact of NAGPRA's principles on archaeological and ethnographic...

  • The View from Honduras: The Emergence and Importance of the Study of Human Skeletal Remains (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Katie Miller Wolf.

    This is an abstract from the "Ethical Dilemmas in the Study and Care of Human Remains beyond North America" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. <html> Archaeological investigations in Honduras began in the mid 19<sup>th</sup> century, with projects led by foreign institutions with hierarchical relationships toward local colleagues. Recently, archaeology has been transformed by those committed to strengthening the discipline in-country through projects...