Abstract
PrefaceWe are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators, and geneticists representing 24 countries and diverse global communities, most of whom met in November 2020 in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research. There was widespread agreement that globally applicable ethical guidelines are needed, but that recent recommendations grounded in discussion about research on human remains from North America are not always generalizable worldwide. Taking into consideration diverse contexts, we propose the following globally applicable guidelines. These hold that: 1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; 2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; 3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; 4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical reexamination of scientific findings; and 5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. We commit to adhering to these guidelines and expect they will promote a high ethical standard going forward.
Highlights
We are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse global communities and 31 countries
All of us met in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research held in November 2020
We propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts. These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and (5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives
Summary
Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg[1,2], David Anthony[3,4], Hiba Babiker[5], Eszter Bánffy[6], Thomas Booth[7], Patricia Capone[8], Arati Deshpande-Mukherjee[9], Stefanie Eisenmann[5,10], Lars Fehren-Schmitz11,12 ✉, Michael Frachetti[13], Ricardo Fujita[14], Catherine J. We propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and (5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. All participants are committed to carrying out research on DNA from human remains that is ethically responsible and sensitive to diverse perspectives held by stakeholders (people who have a connection to a study, including descendant communities, those responsible for the stewardship of human remains, and researchers). Any) material or oral links to present-day groups, or where promoting the idea that some groups have more ownership of cultural heritage than others can contribute to social conflict, an Indigenous-centred ethical framework mandating that each ancient individual be associated with a contemporary group does not fit
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