Ethnography Group: Human remains in Tibetan material religion

This presentation draws from over ten years of conservation-led research on the historic and present use, fabrication, circulation and handling of Tibetan ritual objects made with human remains. This research has combined the technical examination of skull vessels, thighbone trumpets, carved bone ornaments and double-sided skull drums in global museum collections with a multidisciplinary methodology including iconographic research into historic visual cultures of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism; the reading of religious and historical sources; and ethnographic fieldwork within practitioner communities (e.g. interview, photo-elicitation and observation). The results of this work exhibit a diversity of narratives and values associated with these ritual instruments as well as a range of interpretations, decision-making processes and caretaker strategies. This presentation will address how the findings of this research can and have already been applied to the care, handling, study and display of these materials in museums and cultural institutions, including those within practitioner communities.

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Ethnography Group: Human remains in Tibetan material religion

Dr Ayesha Fuentes

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