Jacqueline McKinley FSA is a British archaeologist and osteoarchaeologist specialising in human remains and cremation burials in particular. She has been a regular contributor to TV programs on archaeology including Time Team and has been a featured guest on the BBC Radio 4 program The Life Scientific.
McKinley’s archaeological career began in 1977 and she joined Wessex Archaeology in 1993 as a field archaeologist and osteoarchaeologist and went on to become their Principal Osteoarchaeologist. She is an expert on human remains focussing on cremations including rituals and funeral pyres. [1] [2]
She is a founder member of British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology and a member of the Advisory Panel on the Archaeology of Burials in England. She was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA) in 2009. [3] She is the co-author of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists’ Guidelines to the Standards for Recording Human Remains. [4] She is the author or over 30 archaeological monographs and reports and contributing author to more than 80 book chapters and articles. [5]
Her broadcasting career began with appearances on Time Team where she became a regular contributor for sites with human remains. [2] She also contributed to other TV archaeology documentaries such as The Secret Skeletons Beneath Stonehenge. [6] In March 2025 was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific where she was interview by Jim Al-Khalili. [7]