About Me

I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    ‘Black Death pit’ unearthed by Crossrail project Excavations for London’s Crossrail project have unearthed bodies believed to date from the time of the Black Death. A burial ground was known to be in an area outside the City of London, but its exact location remained a mystery. Thirteen bodies have been found so far in the 5.5m-wide shaft at the edge of Charterhouse Square, alongside pottery dated to the mid-14th Century. Analysis will shed light on the plague and the Londoners of the day. DNA taken from the skeletons may also help chart the development and spread of the bacterium that caused the plague that became known as the Black Death. Charterhouse Square lies in an area that was once outside the walls of London, referred to at the time as “No-man’s Land”. The skeletons’ arrangement in two neat rows suggests they date from the earliest era of the Black Death, before it fully developed into the pandemic that in later years saw bodies dumped haphazardly into mass graves. Archaeologists working for Crossrail and the Museum of London will continue to dig in a bid to discover further remains, or any finds from earlier eras. Read more here.

    ‘Black Death pit’ unearthed by Crossrail project

    Excavations for London’s Crossrail project have unearthed bodies believed to date from the time of the Black Death.

    A burial ground was known to be in an area outside the City of London, but its exact location remained a mystery.

    Thirteen bodies have been found so far in the 5.5m-wide shaft at the edge of Charterhouse Square, alongside pottery dated to the mid-14th Century.

    Analysis will shed light on the plague and the Londoners of the day.

    DNA taken from the skeletons may also help chart the development and spread of the bacterium that caused the plague that became known as the Black Death.

    Charterhouse Square lies in an area that was once outside the walls of London, referred to at the time as “No-man’s Land”.

    The skeletons’ arrangement in two neat rows suggests they date from the earliest era of the Black Death, before it fully developed into the pandemic that in later years saw bodies dumped haphazardly into mass graves.

    Archaeologists working for Crossrail and the Museum of London will continue to dig in a bid to discover further remains, or any finds from earlier eras.

    Read more here.

    Body Beyond Death

    In 2006, Museum of London archaeologists excavated a burial ground at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. What they found was both extraordinary and unexpected. The excavation revealed some 262 burials. In the confusing mix of bones was extensive evidence of dissection, autopsy and amputation, bones wired for teaching, and animals dissected for comparative anatomy. This excavation forms the basis of a new exhibition at the Museum of London, Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men.

    Dating from a key period — that of the Anatomy Act of 1832 — the discovery is one of the most significant in the UK, offering fresh insight into early 19th century dissection and the trade in dead bodies. Now, 180 years later, you can uncover this intriguing story in Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, a major new exhibition at the Museum of London. Bringing together human and animal remains, exquisite anatomical models and drawings, documents and original artefacts, the exhibition reveals the intimate relationship between surgeons pushing forward anatomical study and the ‘Resurrection men’ who supplied them; and the shadowy practices prompted by a growing demand for corpses.

    Body Beyond Death encourages you to debate the Anatomy Act, reflect on medical ethics and cultural attitudes today, and ask what questions still remain.

    (Source: youtube.com)

    Murderer James Legg’s gruesome tale revived for anatomy exhibition Story of murderer’s postmortem participation in crucifixion experiment resurrected for exhibition on medical ethics in 19th-century London The crime of James Legg, a Chelsea pensioner who murdered a fellow pensioner more than two centuries ago, might well have been forgotten long ago had he not, unknowingly, participated postmortem in a bizarre scientific experiment. Instead, his story, and a plaster cast of the 73-year-old’s corpse flayed to the muscle, will form the centrepiece of an exhibition on medical ethics and practices in bygone London. Legg’s immortality in art owes everything to the efforts in 1801 of sculptor Thomas Bank, and artists Benjamin West and Richard Crossway, to demonstrate most depictions of the crucifixion of Christ were anatomically incorrect. Aside from stringing up a live victim, the best possible solution would seem to be to acquire one freshly dead. At the time, as the study and teaching of anatomy became increasingly popular, the only legal source of corpses were those of executed prisoners. Demand, though, far exceeded supply, leading to brisk business in the gruesome trade of bodysnatching, where gangs of what were known as resurrection men stole corpses from the capital’s cemeteries to sell to anatomist surgeons. It was not only the surgeons who were interested in the dead bodies. Anatomy classes were also offered at the Royal Academy of Arts, and many artists forged relationships with surgeon-anatomists. So, it was to Joseph Constantine Carpue, a well-known surgeon, that Banks and the artists turned for help. An opportunity presented itself when Carpue was called to the Chelsea hospital after Legg had apparently dispatched one of his fellow pensioners with a gun. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and taken to the gallows. Immediately after the execution, his still-warm body was taken by Carpue and Banks and hung from a cross. After letting it settle into position, it was then flayed to remove all the skin before Banks made a cast of it, which the Royal Academy retains, occasionally lending it to exhibitions. Now the plaster cast is going on display at the Museum of London as part of the exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, which opens on 19 October. Jelena Beklavac, curator of Human Osteology at the Museum of London, said: “It is a privilege to have the James Legg cast on display. Looking at James is an absorbing and poignant experience and I am certain visitors will be struck by his presence in the exhibition. James underlines our continued fascination with all things anatomical.” Full article here.

    Murderer James Legg’s gruesome tale revived for anatomy exhibition

    Story of murderer’s postmortem participation in crucifixion experiment resurrected for exhibition on medical ethics in 19th-century London

    The crime of James Legg, a Chelsea pensioner who murdered a fellow pensioner more than two centuries ago, might well have been forgotten long ago had he not, unknowingly, participated postmortem in a bizarre scientific experiment.

    Instead, his story, and a plaster cast of the 73-year-old’s corpse flayed to the muscle, will form the centrepiece of an exhibition on medical ethics and practices in bygone London. Legg’s immortality in art owes everything to the efforts in 1801 of sculptor Thomas Bank, and artists Benjamin West and Richard Crossway, to demonstrate most depictions of the crucifixion of Christ were anatomically incorrect.

    Aside from stringing up a live victim, the best possible solution would seem to be to acquire one freshly dead.

    At the time, as the study and teaching of anatomy became increasingly popular, the only legal source of corpses were those of executed prisoners. Demand, though, far exceeded supply, leading to brisk business in the gruesome trade of bodysnatching, where gangs of what were known as resurrection men stole corpses from the capital’s cemeteries to sell to anatomist surgeons.

    It was not only the surgeons who were interested in the dead bodies. Anatomy classes were also offered at the Royal Academy of Arts, and many artists forged relationships with surgeon-anatomists.

    So, it was to Joseph Constantine Carpue, a well-known surgeon, that Banks and the artists turned for help.

    An opportunity presented itself when Carpue was called to the Chelsea hospital after Legg had apparently dispatched one of his fellow pensioners with a gun. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and taken to the gallows.

    Immediately after the execution, his still-warm body was taken by Carpue and Banks and hung from a cross. After letting it settle into position, it was then flayed to remove all the skin before Banks made a cast of it, which the Royal Academy retains, occasionally lending it to exhibitions.

    Now the plaster cast is going on display at the Museum of London as part of the exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, which opens on 19 October.

    Jelena Beklavac, curator of Human Osteology at the Museum of London, said: “It is a privilege to have the James Legg cast on display. Looking at James is an absorbing and poignant experience and I am certain visitors will be struck by his presence in the exhibition. James underlines our continued fascination with all things anatomical.”

    Full article here.

    Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men

    Explore the early 19th century history of human dissection and the trade in dead bodies through dramatic evidence unearthed during Museum of London Archaeology excavations at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

    Exhibition runs from 19 October 2012 — 14 April 2013, admission charges apply.

    Can’t wait to see this! Ahem.

    (Source: museumoflondon.org.uk)