Letter of Invitation to Comment

 The following letter of invitation to comment has been sent to those listed in the list of consultees.  We would welcome comments from any other groups and individuals; information about how to comment is given in the letter.

Dear Consultee,

In 2006, English Heritage (EH) and the National Trust (NT) received a request from Paul Davies, Reburial Officer of the Council of British Druid Orders, for the reburial of prehistoric human remains from archaeological excavations in the Avebury area, which are currently in the Alexander Keiller Museum at Avebury.

As this request raises wider and sensitive issues, and the way in which it is resolved will set precedents, as Avebury is a World Heritage Site, and as the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has recently issued Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums which included recommendations for responding to requests for return of human remains, EH and the NT decided to follow this guidance in responding to this request, and have for the past eighteen months been assembling the relevant information.

As there are potentially many groups and individuals who have an interest and views on this request, it was agreed that the draft report and assembled information should be made available for comment by other interested parties before EH and the NT make any decisions.  These have therefore been posted on the EH and NT websites.

We would welcome your comments on this report; due to the high level of interest in relation to this consultation, we have extended the consultation period by 15 days and will consider all responses received by 15 February 2009. A proforma for replies is included on the website.  It would be appreciated if you would use this and reply through the website if possible, as this will speed the process of analysing the replies.

If, however, you prefer to comment by letter or e-mail, please send your comments to: Sebastian Payne, Avebury Reburial Consultation, English Heritage, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, EC1 2ST, (Tel: 0207 973 3321), or by e-mail to AveRebCons@english-heritage.org.uk.   If you would like paper copies of any of the papers referred to in this letter, please write to the same address. 

Any other interested group or individual is also very welcome to comment;  we would be grateful if you would pass this invitation on to such groups or individuals that you may be aware of.   A list of those to whom this letter is being sent has also been posted on the website.

A list of comments received will be appended to the final report and recommendations; in keeping with EH’s policy under the Freedom of Information Act, all the comments received may be made publicly available.

With best wishes,

David Thackray
Head of Archaeology 
National Trust 

Sebastian Payne
Chief Scientist
English Heritage