13th March 2009, 01:21 AM
The vast majority of bodies that get excavated are nameless individuals, for which there is no way of knowing who they were in life. This allows us, as archaeologists, to have a proffesional detachment from them as people who were once living, breathing folks, the same as anyone alive today. So as such it is easy to see their remains as something to be studied, recorded and then archived away for possible future study.
But, what if the bodies are less than a century old? as have been excavated,are they once recorded not reburied? is this done because of the possibility of living relatives? is it easier to show more respect to the dead if they are more recent? how can we draw a line between those that should be reburied and those that can be treated as archive material?
But, what if the bodies are less than a century old? as have been excavated,are they once recorded not reburied? is this done because of the possibility of living relatives? is it easier to show more respect to the dead if they are more recent? how can we draw a line between those that should be reburied and those that can be treated as archive material?