A Glasgow auction house has withdrawn a lot containing human bones from a scheduled sale following widespread criticism from experts over the ethics of trading human remains.
Great Western Auctions, co-owned by Bargain Hunt star Anita Manning, had listed the collection—including a human skull—with an estimated value between £500 and £800, according to BBC News Scotland.
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The bones arrived at the auction house in a box labeled as property of an anatomy class at the University of Glasgow, as reported by the Daily Record.
Ethical Concerns Raised
While auctioning human remains over 100 years old is legal in the UK, many historical medical teaching specimens were sourced from abroad without consent.
Dr. Lauren McIntyre of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology condemned the planned sale, stating that commercial trade robs the deceased of dignity and is unethical.
She noted that most medical remains like those in Glasgow were products of mass export from countries such as India and China, rather than from consenting donors.
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The export of human skeletons from India was banned only in 1985 amid fears of grave robbing and murder, while China banned it in 2008, suggesting many specimens for sale may be recent.
Professor Gordon Findlater, HM's Inspector of Anatomy, highlighted regulatory concerns, noting that without knowing the seller, it is impossible to verify provenance.
He added that if the bones came from a donated body, selling them would breach Scotland's Code of Practice, which prohibits financial profit from bodies donated to medical science.
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Following contact from the BBC, Great Western Auctions removed the lot from its schedule and confirmed the cancellation, stating simply, "The lot has been withdrawn."
