Bioarchaeology at London Museum

The Osteological Database provides information on archaeologically excavated skeletal human remains curated by London Museum. This digital database is accessible to researchers worldwide.

  • Black and white image of an old cemetery partially obscured by dense foliage and trees, featuring weathered tombstones and monuments.

    Part of an 1816 diploma certifying the recipient attended lectures in anatomy, physiology and surgery.

London Museum has one of the largest archaeological archives in the world. This includes human remains, whose life stories reveal the archaeology and history of the London region from prehistory to the mid-19th century.

The museum cares for cemetery populations uncovered during archaeological excavations within the City of London and Greater London area. These sites have burial licences, now issued by the Ministry of Justice and prior to 2007 by the Home Office, allowing the human remains to be curated for study and future analysis.

The museum also cares for remains that were given to the Guildhall Museum or those found on the Thames foreshore.

London Museum is committed to the ethical and responsible management of the human remains in its care, and was the first British museum in 2006 to draft a Human Remains Policy.

Setting up the database

In 2003, the museum received funding from the Wellcome Trust to establish the Centre for Human Bioarchaeology (CHB) and develop the Wellcome Osteological Research Database (WORD). This is now known as the Osteological Database, and is part of our Archaeological Archive.

Using the Osteological Database

Osteology Method Statement, revised 2025

PDF: 1.1 MB

This document provides details of the methods and techniques used to record the human remains.

Rapid Method Recording Manual, revised 2025

PDF: 680.5 KB

This manual provides information on recording guidelines and data structure followed in the Osteological Database.

Guidelines for using the database

PDF: 1.0 MB

This document provides an overview on how to cite, access and manipulate the download files available through the Osteological Database.

The museum’s role in study and care

The main role of the museum is to curate and research the human remains in its care. We encourage research by external scientists, and can provide Osteological Database downloads and resources. We are also committed to sharing this knowledge of bioarchaeology and past Londoners through public engagement and outreach activities.

The museum has long supported academic research of the highest calibre. Publications drawing on London Museum datasets have been published in Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Journal of Biological Anthropology and World Archaeology, among many others.

We have also supported research funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, National Science Foundation, Wellcome Trust and Wenner-Gren Foundation. Due to critical collections work, including the complete reorganisation of the museum’s storage, research access is currently closed to all collections at London Museum Spaces and London Museum Stores, including the Archaeological Archive.

This essential work is being undertaken as part of the move to our new museum in Smithfield, where we will showcase more of the London Collection than ever before.

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