To sell or not to sell: the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology’s position on the trade and sales of human remains in the UK

Squires, K., Birch, W., Goold-Jones, G., Huffer, D., Mant, M., Mills, S. H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1347-5190, Primeau, C., Schrader, S. and Biers, T. (2025) To sell or not to sell: the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology’s position on the trade and sales of human remains in the UK. The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice. ISSN 1756-7513 doi: 10.1080/17567505.2025.2492398

Abstract/Summary

We introduce the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology’s ‘Trading and Sale of Human Remains Task Force’. This member-based subgroup started in 2016 and brings together professionals from a range of fields, including osteoarchaeology and forensic and biological anthropology, across academia, curatorial roles, and cultural heritage management. Subgroup members are concerned with and actively monitor the proliferation of human remains sales online. Here, we describe the history, goals, and current mission of the group, how we approach sellers and what assistance we provide to encourage donation over sale, alongside the challenges associated with this form of trafficking. We illustrate this discussion through select anonymised case studies to show the types of sales we respond to. These examples ultimately demonstrate that improved legislation is required if we are to end this industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Furthermore, the cases in this article exemplify the need to raise greater public awareness of the ethical implications associated with the sale and trade of once-living individuals.