Ethical futures in biological anthropology: Research, teaching, community engagement, and curation involving deceased individuals

Although ethical reforms in biological anthropology have gained ground in recent years, there is still a scarcity of ethical standards for work involving historical documented collections (HDCs) at US museums and universities. These collections of deceased individuals were created in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries under anatomy laws that targeted socially marginalized communities and allowed for the dissection of these individuals without their consent. Due to the extensive information associated with the individuals and made available to researchers, these collections have served as foundational resources for theory and methods development in biological anthropology into the 21st century. Recognizing the need for ethical guidelines for research, teaching and training, community engagement, and curation involving HDCs, we held a workshop called “Ethical Futures for Curation, Research, and Teaching in Biological Anthropology” on November 15–17, 2021. Here we summarize the conversations and major points of consensus among the workshop participants on these topics in order to advance these ethical considerations more broadly across the field.