Archaeological Ethics: Name That Child's Corpse Contest Over

The "Name that Child's Corpse" game (played with human remains found when a grave at Witherley was disturbed) has come to a close. Thousands of gawpers, tweeters and facebookers took part and the name they all thought was really cool to go on the cover of the professionals' report was ... "Oriens":

A Roman child discovered in a 1,600-year-old coffin has been given a name as a mark of respect (sic) A public vote was held by Warwickshire Archaeology in order to provide an appropriate name for the child found in a lead-lined coffin in Witherley, near Atherstone. The name Oriens, meaning to rise, was chosen after more than 1,800 people voted online. The winning name received 39 per cent of the total votes.[...] Stuart Palmer, of Archaeology Warwickshire, said: “We are delighted that Oriens’ story is resonating so widely

and he can get his name in the newspapers. Oriens, so they are going to "raise the dead"? In what way are gawping tweeters placed in a position to determine what is "appropriate" for a person who died over a millennium ago in a completely foreign culture to ours? Oriens was not only the name of a pagan god, but is the name of a demon, hardly an appropriate a name to thrust upon anybody uninvited. In any case, is there any epigraphic evidence (Warwick archaeologists - question for you) for the use of this name in this region in this period? By whom was it used, and how do we know the dead person belonged to that community?

 In what way is superimposing our ideas on what we think she should have been named a "sign of respect"? Making a sideshow of this exhumation is in fact deeply disrespectful and unprofessional. This is not the way proper professionals should be treating the handling of human remains, is it?

Is this what British professional archaeologists would do to any Native American remains in the US ("vote now: "Johny-Slow-Hand", "Tonto-Rides-a-Horse-Quickly", "Jimmy-Cloud-Follower", "Sammy-Does-Nothing-All-Day", "Ray-Red-Skin")?

Or what about, or an unidentified Asian soldier's remains found in investigations on a Pacific island (vote for: "Yamaha", "Tojo", Kamma-Karzi", "Sushi no-More", "Chopstick Charlie")? The mind boggles.

Where is this "name that corpse" going, will we now see other professionals following the archaeologists' lead? A Metropolitan Police Force forensic team perhaps appealing for public help with a cold case, putting a name to human remains found in a bin-bag dumped in the woods: ("vote now "Binny the Binbag Woman", "Plucky Unlucky", "Carrie Cutabout", "White Trash", "Dina DNA-Sample")?

What rights are British archaeologists asserting here and why? This is wholly unprofessional, and I am surprised that none of the UK bodies supposedly upholding professional standards in the discipline have said anything. Well, actually I am not, metal detecting is involved. Few of them would say "boo" to a metal detectorist.

See also  'Tamworth Lead Coffin, the Next Indignity', PACHI Blog Saturday, 9 November 2013

Sources:

Simon Gilbert, 'Roman child found in coffin buried 1,600 years ago named Oriens' [no, in all probabilty she was not], Coventry Telegraph, 27th Nov 2013,

Emma Ray, 'Name chosen for child found in Roman coffin', Hinckley Times  30 Nov 2013.