Statements and Policies

Our collections represent people and cultures from around the globe, both past and present; it is therefore crucial that the stories we tell expand our cultural conceptions and challenge what we think we know about our shared history. As our ongoing research recovers the voices of people who helped shape that history, it is critical to confront and learn from our own past.

Pennsylvania Declaration

On April 1, 1970, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (now the Penn Museum) became the first museum to take formal steps towards guaranteeing the ethical acquisition of materials and deterring looting and illicit antiquities trading. This statement of ethics was called the Pennsylvania Declaration.

Later that year, the United Nations issued the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Since then, supporting resolutions have been passed by the Archaeological Institute of America, the Society for American Archaeology, and the American Anthropological Association. Read the full 1970 UNESCO Treaty.

In 1978, the Museum adopted a more stringent acquisitions policy, stating that all undocumented archaeological objects made available by gift, bequest, or exchange would be refused if acquired after 1970, and that the Museum reserved the right to refuse to loan objects to museums suspected of having knowingly violated the UNESCO Convention.

NAGPRA Compliance

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

In 1990, we hired a full-time Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Coordinator and formed a NAGPRA Committee to begin working with Native American and Native Hawaiian communities on the respectful return of human remains, associated and unassociated funerary objects, and objects of cultural patrimony of their peoples. In anticipation and in advance of January 2024 changes to the NAGPRA regulations that require updated inventories and adjusted timelines, in 2023 the Museum worked with the University to secure financial and administrative support for two additional full-time staff members in our NAGPRA Office so we can more quickly complete our NAGPRA responsibility to Tribes affiliated with ancestral human remains and collections in our care.

Since our institution’s inception, the Penn Museum has highlighted Native American voices and involved numerous leading Native American specialists and consulting curators, including many experts we have met through our work on NAGPRA. We are currently working with eight remarkable Consulting Curators to develop a new Native American exhibition (opening November 2025) where NAGPRA and repatriation are leading themes.

Human Remains Policy

Humility in reckoning with our past
Confidence in our ability to model best practices within and beyond the Museum

Updated in September 2023, the Human Remains Policy (HRP) provides a rigorous basis for the ethical treatment of human remains in the Penn Museum in a way that centers human dignity and considers consent of the deceased and wishes of descendant communities. The scope of this Policy includes the care, research, teaching, and display of human remains held in the Penn Museum. Its goal is to provide a set of comprehensive guidelines for all aspects of the Museum’s treatment of human remains.

Learn More

Morton Cranial Collection

Learn about the historical background of the Samuel G. Morton Cranial Collection as well as updates on our work towards its repatriation and repair here.

Towards a Respectful Resolution

Learn about restoration and apology to the Africa Family here.

Collections Management Policy

The Collections Management Policy governs all aspects related to the development, management, preservation, and use of the Penn Museum’s collections. The policy provides a framework of professional standards to establish guidelines for managing the collections.