Bodies, Bones, and Burials

The School of Social, Political and Historical Research is honoured to present this special lecture by Dr. Douglas Stenton, CM, lead researcher in a series of breakthrough discoveries related to the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Northwest Passage Expedition.

About the presentation

In May 1845, Sir John Franklin’s expedition left England aboard HMS Erebus and HMS Terror on a voyage of exploration to complete the Northwest Passage. Both ships became trapped in ice near King William Island (Nunavut) and by the spring of 1848 two dozen men had died, including Franklin. In a desperate attempt to escape, the 105 remaining officers and crew left the ships and set out on foot to try and reach the mainland, hundreds of kilometres to the south. None survived, turning the expedition into the worst disaster in the history of British polar exploration and one of the Arctic’s best-known tragedies.

In this presentation, Dr. Douglas Stenton will provide an overview of the expedition and discuss his team’s recent DNA investigations that have resulted in the identification of six members of the expedition. He will share why these identifications matter for understanding the expedition’s final stages and the human cost behind its legacy.

The presentation will be followed by a Q and A, moderated by Dr. Ian Milligan, Director of the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.

About Dr. Douglas Stenton

Douglas Stenton is a Canadian archaeologist whose career has been devoted to the archaeology, history, and cultural heritage of the Canadian Arctic. For more than four decades, he has conducted archaeological research in Nunavut while helping shape the policies and legislation that protect one of the world's richest archaeological landscapes. His work has advanced understanding of both Inuit history and the fate of Sir John Franklin's 1845 Northwest Passage expedition.

Beginning in 2008, Stenton directed the Government of Nunavut's archaeological investigations of Franklin expedition sites on King William Island and the Adelaide Peninsula. His team’s investigations integrated archaeological evidence with Inuit oral history and nineteenth-century search records, providing new insights into the movements and final days of Franklin's crews.

His research has contributed to several important discoveries, including previously undocumented human remains and new interpretations of key Franklin expedition sites. By integrating archaeology with historical research, facial reconstruction, isotope analysis, and DNA studies, Stenton has helped shed light on the lives and deaths of individual expedition members. His work also played an important role in the collaborative efforts that led to the discovery of HMS Erebus in 2014, one of the most significant archaeological finds in Canadian history.

Stenton's many honours include the Polar Medal, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's Erebus Medal, and appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada. Through his archaeological investigations and his leadership in heritage conservation, Stenton has helped preserve and illuminate the history of Canada's Arctic for future generations while making lasting contributions to one of the country's most enduring historical mysteries.

Banner image: Douglas Stenton excavating the bones of Franklin expedition sailors at Erebus Bay. Photo by Robert Park.