Archeological Excavations and Ethical Concerns
Archeologists excavate in order to research the bodies of ancient humans with the aim of discovering social mysteries and riches associated with the past. Archeologists continue to unearth ancient materials from various regions because of the knowledge acquired from these individual analyses of human remains. Archeology remains a critical component of current scientific techniques for obtaining a detailed description of the human body and historical society. Throughout the method, three large operations within archeology have raised ethical questions.
Treatment of Human Remains
The first concern is on the debate on how to treat human remains with respect due to the origin of these body parts and the sensitivity of ancient graveyards. Despite the desire to gather knowledge from the prehistoric period, some remains from the medieval Jewish burial grounds poses sentimental value to the Jewish community. These artifacts are distributed unevenly in Europe and they cover multi-religious grounds with different sentimentality on how to treat the remains of their ancestors. Excavating the grounds of indigenous communities has been an issue of conflict in the recent years that prefer to leave their remains unearthed.
Preservation of Graveyards
Exponents of the archeology profession additionally argue that graveyards should remain preserved and not excavated since it disrespects the human remains of soldiers and other individuals extracted from their memorial grounds. An example of unearthed burial sites that were discovered coincidentally exists in the Lower Manhattan in New York City where 400 bodies of African Slaves were found. The remains that were dated back to the original slaves had no known descendants in the present age and excavating them was unnecessary.
Ownership of Artifacts
The next major concern on excavation is on the ownership of these artifacts discovered in different regions of the continent. Archeologists that discover the ancient materials have the first claim and at times they intend to sell these items to the highest bidder. The national government of the country on the other hand claim responsibility of items discovered in their country and such a sale by the archeologists to outside nations would be considered treason or as a criminal offense. The government opts to purchasing the artifacts themselves from the archeologists and preserving them in the national museums once they have been studied.
Repercussions of Excavation
The third ethical concern is on the repercussions that could face the community and the archeologists after they have excavated human remains that were intended to remain buried due to extraordinary phenomena. One such instance is in the London pit assemblage that was discovered containing victims of the Black Plague that had been thrown in after their death to prevent the spread of the disease. In the search for knowledge and prehistoric knowledge, archeologists may discover items that may be catastrophic to the present occupants of the earth. It is for these three major ethical concerns that critics argue against the act of excavation in the present times.
The Importance of Archeological Research
Despite these ethical concerns that suggest archeologists to find alternative ways of studying the past knowledge, considerable knowledge is gained from the excavations that make them necessary. Anthropologists are particularly fascinated by the structural differences in the human remains that are discovered from different prehistoric periods. In that respect, it is difficult to restrict archeologists from advancing in their excavation practices on the basis of ethical concerns. A standard way of performing the archeological studies is suggested to settle the raised disputes.
Studying the Human Remains
It is essential to keep studying the human remains of the prehistoric man since besides telling the story of how they lived and their structural adaptations to their society; various components in today's person have been carried from the past. The solution to current problems may be hidden on the origin of the problem in the prehistoric period, thus bio-archeological studies should not be forbidden. An example is from the Kell theory dated back to the period of King Henry the 8th. Research conducted on the blood group of the two executed wives of the king suggests that Tudor king's had reproductive afflictions due to genetic problem that could be hereditary transmitted.
Reconstruction of Ancient Practices
Archeological research is also responsible for the reconstruction of essential ancient practices and life in the past centuries. These practices are compared to present time practices and the eventual effect that they have on survival in the world. A practical example is the study of the Roman architecture and building designs that enabled their structures to survive through various catastrophes and external attacks. Although some of these sites were abandoned, the evidence of prehistoric activities taking place in the ancient sites is suggestive of the direction in which the present constructions should take in this age of natural disasters.
A Modern Approach to Ethical Challenges
The dispute between the ethical and the archeology discipline can be settled through formulation of a modern discipline that uses a gentleman approach to avoid conflict. The nineteenth century consisted of heroic archaeologists that brought back ancient materials as souvenirs. The current generation of archaeologists is using metal detectors to avoid conflict with multi-religious organizations that are strictly against the excavation of the remains of their dead ancestors. In this way, the archaeologists only dig out souvenirs and excavate with government authorization.
References
Colomer, Laia. “The Politics of Human Remains in Managing Archaeological Medieval Jewish Burial Grounds in Europe.” Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift 17, no. 02 (2014): 168-186.
Pearson, Michael Parker, and Michael Parker Pearson. The archaeology of death and burial. Phoenix Mill, UK: Sutton, 1999.
Wirsing, Aaron J., Michael R. Heithaus, and Lawrence M. Dill. “Can you dig it? Use of excavation, a risky foraging tactic, by dugongs is sensitive to predation danger.” Animal Behaviour 74, no. 4 (2007): 1085-1091.
