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The ethics of studying, collecting and displaying human remains are very much a hot topic at present. Here Tiffany Jenkins presents a sociological perspective on the debates, charting and analysing changes in museum policy over the last few decades. In so doing she makes a case against the sort of relativism which has led to the claims of pagan pressure groups carrying more weight than their numbers or the validity of their viewpoint would deem necessary. Instead she argues that the contrasting desires of the general viewing public be taken into account, and for museums to regain confidence and reaffirm their "cultural authority" in standing up for what has been their historic remit.