Respect for the Ancestors is another core belief for some Druids. This idea of great ancestor respect or ancestor worship is common in pagan folk religions. Revivalists and reconstructionist alike agree that knowing as much as possible about the lives of our Ancestors and preserving national or tribal heritage is important and good. Archaeological evidence does suggest that the ancient peoples of Britain, Ireland, and other parts of Europe practiced burial customs that we assume imply particular respect for ancestors and probably a belief in life after death in some form.
This veneration of the ancestors primarily emphasises the Iron Age “Celtic” peoples of western Europe, because these were the peoples amongst whom the ancient druids lived. This connection to the Celtic peoples can be through both a “blood link to a modern Celtic land or merely a soul allegiance”. However some Druids, particularly those with no ethnic connection, do not emphasise such a Celtic link, instead focusing on other historical cultures, such as that of the Anglo-Saxons or the Norse.
It is largely because of the fact that Druids venerate the ancestors that many object to the archaeological excavation of human remains and their subsequent display in museums, and in many cases have organised campaigns for their reburial. For instance, in 2006, the Council of British Druid Orders’ reburial officer Paul Davies requested that the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury, Wiltshire rebury their human remains, and that storing and displaying them was “immoral and disrespectful”. Criticism has come of this view from the archaeological community, with statements like “no single modern ethnic group or cult should be allowed to appropriate our ancestors for their own agendas. It is for the international scientific community to curate such remains.”
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