Aboriginal Law Bulletin --- "The Skeleton Manual" [1987] AboriginalLawB 3; (1987) 1(24) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 5

• The Skeleton Manual

---

The Skeleton Manual

The Skeleton Manual is a handbook for the identification of Aboriginal skeletal remains written by Alan Thorne and Anne Ross with Illustrations by Winifred Mumford and Betsy-Jane Osbourne.

It is designed to assist police, National Parks officers and Aboriginal site curators for identifying skeletal materials while setting out the procedures for dealing with any Aboriginal skeletal material found.

The necessity for such a manual arises because 'skeletal remains and burials are very important to the Aboriginal community. Aboriginal people are concerned that the remains of their ancestors are not disturbed unnecessarily. and that local Aboriginal communities are notified when any discovery or disturbance takes place. This applies whether the remains are relatively recent or very ancient ... Aboriginal people would like to see Aboriginal remains left where they are found in their original resting place. or if this is impossible, reburied in the same general area' (p. 3).

This factor has become news recently with city tabloid stories of Sydney suburban people who have found skeletal materials when renovating the house or digging their swimming pool holes in the background.

Aboriginal remains have great cultural and scientific importance. Some of the oldest remains of Homo Sapiens in the world have been found in New South Wales.

The manual contains pictures of typical burial sites and drawings of cremation rituals obtained from the Mitchell Library. In addition. diagrams of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal bones and skeletons are depicted in an exaggerated and contrasting manner to assist in identification, though it is believed some analysis of the bones will be required due to the hard task of classification.

The procedures for identification of human skeletal remains are listed in the form of a work flow. Also contained in the manual is a copy of instructions to police officers circulated by the Police Commissioner, I K Avery to notify and present the amended procedure concerning police involvement in the discovery of Aboriginal skeletal material.

The Manual is produced by the National Parks Wildlife Service [NSW] and the NSW Police Aborigine Liaison Unit and should be available through either Department.