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Militant Druids fight museum over a 4,000-year-old skeleton called Charlie

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Druid
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« on: January 29, 2009, 12:05:10 am »

Militant Druids fight museum over a 4,000-year-old skeleton called Charlie

By Alun Rees and Jonathan Petre
Last updated at 2:24 AM on 18th January 2009

Comments (16) Add to My Stories
A group of militant Druids has forced an expensive official inquiry after demanding that a museum releases a 4,000-year-old skeleton called 'Charlie' so they can rebury it.
They claim the bones of a young girl and seven other sets of prehistoric remains excavated near the ancient stone circle in Avebury, Wiltshire, are their 'tribal ancestors'.
If their claim is rejected, they have threatened to take a test case to the High Court under the Human Rights Act.



 Claim: Mr Davies, left, and Druids with the bones
The row has triggered two years of meetings and reports by state-funded English Heritage and the charity The National Trust, which have been given powers by the Government to decide the case.
They are conducting a public consultation before issuing a judgment later this year. English Heritage said it could not estimate the cost but one source said: 'It could run into tens of thousands of pounds.'
Archaeologists fear that if the Druids' claims are successful, they could open the floodgates to increasingly bizarre demands, stripping museums of their collections.
Critics say the group making the claim, the Council of British Druids Orders, is unrepresentative and has hijacked legislation enacted after Tony Blair was lobbied to return Aboriginal remains kept in Britain, some of which were repatriated.
The Druids made their demand to the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury under the Human Tissue Act, which allows museums to return human remains.
They claim that remains in the museum include their ancestors Hawk, from the ancient Order of the Sidhe, and Lydia, Swordbearer of the Glastonbury Outer Order of Druids.
 


Avebury, where the remains are held by the Alexander Keiller Museum

The Druids' reburials officer Paul Davies said: 'Our claim is based on ethics and the inextricable link between these our tribal ancestors and the landscape.'
Mr Davies admitted that his group was small and was itself split. A breakaway Arthurian Warband faction, led by the self-styled Uther Pendragon, who claims to be the reincarnation of King Arthur, demands an end to all archaeological digs around henges and barrows.
'The Warband split away from us so we have two groups calling themselves the Council of British Druid Orders,' said Mr Davies.
'But our group has a good relationship with English Heritage and The National Trust, who have held quarterly meetings with us and allowed us to have two beautiful healing sessions at the museum.'
Critics say modern Druids have very little connection with the ancient priests.
Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology, said: 'There are very small numbers who hold beliefs that they are chosen as Druids and have spiritual links with these places and the remains found in them.
'The notion that they should be custodians of these remains is preposterous. Some Druid groups are becoming increasingly militant and belligerent.'
Emma Restall Orr, a Druid priestess and founder of the more mainstream Honouring the Ancient Dead, said: 'The group making this claim is very small and some of their number are extremists.'
English Heritage said it recognised there were 'sensitive issues' involved and that it had to balance the claims of the Druids against the public interest.
A spokesman said: 'It is a test case and it is necessary to be thorough.'
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it had delegated powers to English Heritage and The National Trust and would not comment.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1120730/Militant-Druids-fight-museum-4-000-year-old-skeleton-called-Charlie.html
« Last Edit: January 29, 2009, 12:06:10 am by Druid » Report Spam   Logged

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