
Special Issue of

Published in February 2025
The papers in the special issue underscore the urgent need for BIPOC leadership in developing policies and protocols for working with the skeletal remains of individuals. The history of anatomical sciences is fraught with racism. Our discipline was built on the bodies of people from communities that were intentionally marginalized for economic and political gain. The legacy of these actions continues to harm Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color today. As biological anthropologists, we have a responsibility to be transparent about the past while dedicating time, effort, and resources to rectify unjust and unethical practices and make reparations for these acts.
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Leaders of our professional associations, journals, funding agencies, and other institutions must take initiative to empower and support these efforts. In 2025, now more than ever, it is crucial to pause and reflect on our values and ethical principles as a discipline. Journal editors need to update their ethical standards and policies (e.g., Halcrow et al. 2024). Professional Associations must honor their commitments to develop more enforceable policies, as they did in response to publications and protests of the ‘Me Too’ movement that culminated in 2019. Academic institutions must create oversight boards and develop policies that require professionalism and strict protocols for working with human remains. Institutions of all kinds must work with descendant communities to decide on care for these individuals going forward.
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These issues have been clearly articulated in numerous publications for everyone in our discipline to see, everyone present and future. How we choose to deal with these issues now reflects our values as a discipline, as individual researchers, and our commitment to fostering change within our discipline. We cannot continue to do business as usual. The time to pause unethical teaching and research practices is now. The time to support Black and Indigenous leadership is here. The future is watching.






















Twenty-first century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward
Yearbook of Biological Anthropology, 2022






















Robbins Schug, G. (2023). Post-glacial climate change and its impact on life (18000 BP to Present). In Ganesh Devi, Tony Joseph, Ravi Korisettar (Eds.), India: Histories of a Civilization. New Delhi, India: Aleph Book Company.
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Robbins Schug, G. (2023). Critical Social Theory Answers Determinist Thinking About Climate-Culture Connections in the Past. In Ravi Korisettar (Ed.), Beyond Stones and More Stones, Vol. 3. Bengaluru, India: The Mythic Society. pp. 21–56.
