You completely missed my point. How can anyone possibly ask the descendants of 500+ year old plague victims whether they consent to research on their teeth. Do

You completely missed my point. How can anyone possibly ask the descendants of 500+ year old plague victims whether they consent to research on their teeth. Do you just go round knocking on every door in a 10 mile radius? I'm British, and so might be descended from the bodies they did research on. They didn't ask me - and they shouldn't have to. Fine, clear it with an ethics committee, be open about what you're doing and debate the implications. But asking the descendants? That's not practical. For the record, I've never conducted research on indigenous people - and have no plans to.