ABSTRACT
Despite the widespread return of the United Kingdom’s former colonies to home rule throughout the 20th century (from the port of Weihaiwei returned to China in 1930, to the handing back of Hong Kong, again to China, in 1997), there remain a number of overseas states attached to British sovereignty (Table A1.1). In addition to the British Overseas Territories, there is also a separate classification of Crown Dependencies, which remain possessions of the British Crown (Table A1.2). The nature of these territories and the reasons for their continued attachment to the British
Crown or State are varied. The Crown Dependencies are physically close to Britain and retain feudal ties to the English Monarch, who retains the title Duke of Normandy. By contrast, the British Overseas Territories maintain attachments to Britain due to a number of factors: partial or full economic dependency, identification with the British nation state, and continuing strategic importance. This is particularly true of the island territories of the South Atlantic: Saint Helena, and the Falkland Islands. Both were originally formally settled to address direct strategic concerns: the guardianship of the exiled Napoleon in the case of Saint Helena, and the control of a waystation close to Cape Horn in the case of the Falklands. In the words of Secretary of State Viscount Castlereagh, speaking to Parliament in 1816: ‘Our policy has been to secure the Empire against future attack. In order to do this we had acquired what in former days would have been thought romance – the keys of every great military position’ (HC Deb (1st series) 1816). Due to the complexities of individual legislature and the wealth of archaeological data, this
chapter will not deal directly with the Crown Dependencies. Advice regarding the excavation of human remains can be sought from Jersey Heritage (www.jerseyheritage.org), Heritage Guernsey (www.heritageguernsey.com) or Manx National Heritage (www.gov.im/MNH) respectively. This chapter will instead focus on a sample of Overseas Territories in the Atlantic and Caribbean: Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena. It will become apparent throughout this discussion that legislation dealing directly with the excavation of human remains is scant, and frequently reliant on the precedent of English Statute and Common Law. Each of these Territories, however, exhibits a unique set of pressures on its respective environment, relating to tourism, population density or geographical isolation. Additionally, all have seen a growth of interest in the potential they offer for formal archaeological research. The exploitation of this potential will inevitably lead to greater pressure on
existing legislative frameworks and a greater formal control over excavations, particularly where human remains are subject to disturbance and recovery.
