Jean-Gabriel PARIAT, Frédéric BOURSIER IS IT STILL NECESSARY TO WORK ON OLD COLLECTIONS? The example of the passage tomb of Mériel "159, Grande Rue" (Val-d'Oise)

Abstract

A 2019 research project led to the rediscovery of human remains from the Neolithic passage tomb of Mériel “159, Grande Rue” (Val-d’Oise) preserved by the Musée de l’Homme. A new study of the bones more than a century after their discovery opens up research perspectives in various fields of archaeoanthropology. The lifting of a certain number of constraints currently imposed by the museum conditions this research and constitutes the starting point of a discussion on the use of old data from a highly constrained environment such as a museum. This reflection on the relevance of re-examining anthropological collections opens up the broader question of the status of human remains in museums and their accessibility by scholars.

Keywords