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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    ‘Body Worlds: Pulse’ at Discovery Times Square A man and woman, stripped of skin, are balanced in a balletic embrace, but their skulls and thoracic and abdominal cavities are open from behind and their spines are pulled backward, with organs and muscles attached. A woman stands erect, also skinless, a slightly melancholy expression emerging from her facial musculature, her belly sliced vertically so we can see her liver and intestines, along with a 5-month-old fetus in her womb. Another flayed body welcomes us into this new exhibition, “Body Worlds: Pulse” at Discovery Times Square, holding aloft, with pride, the complete coat of skin that has been removed from his body. These are not models (or allusions to “The Silence of the Lambs”) but actual people who, since 1983, have donated their bodies for such preservation and display. More than 13,200 of the living made such promises; 1,254 of them are deceased, and some of them (with organs from other sources) appear among the 200 specimens displayed here. You might assume that sliced and pulled-apart human cadavers, preserved in all the freshness of death by infusions of plastics and resin, no longer have the power to shock or amaze. After all, since the German anatomist Gunther von Hagens invented the process he calls plastination in 1977, then started the donation program with his Institute of Plastination, and finally began mounting specimens in “Body Worlds” exhibitions in 1995, some 36 million people have seen the shows in nearly two dozen countries in 11 different incarnations. (This one, “Pulse,” was designed for New York.) A competitor arose, Premier Exhibitions, and opened a series of successful exhibitions in the United States (including one that has been closed at the South Street Seaport since Hurricane Sandy. (Source: The New York TImes)

    ‘Body Worlds: Pulse’ at Discovery Times Square

    A man and woman, stripped of skin, are balanced in a balletic embrace, but their skulls and thoracic and abdominal cavities are open from behind and their spines are pulled backward, with organs and muscles attached.

    A woman stands erect, also skinless, a slightly melancholy expression emerging from her facial musculature, her belly sliced vertically so we can see her liver and intestines, along with a 5-month-old fetus in her womb.

    Another flayed body welcomes us into this new exhibition, “Body Worlds: Pulse” at Discovery Times Square, holding aloft, with pride, the complete coat of skin that has been removed from his body.

    These are not models (or allusions to “The Silence of the Lambs”) but actual people who, since 1983, have donated their bodies for such preservation and display. More than 13,200 of the living made such promises; 1,254 of them are deceased, and some of them (with organs from other sources) appear among the 200 specimens displayed here.

    You might assume that sliced and pulled-apart human cadavers, preserved in all the freshness of death by infusions of plastics and resin, no longer have the power to shock or amaze. After all, since the German anatomist Gunther von Hagens invented the process he calls plastination in 1977, then started the donation program with his Institute of Plastination, and finally began mounting specimens in “Body Worlds” exhibitions in 1995, some 36 million people have seen the shows in nearly two dozen countries in 11 different incarnations. (This one, “Pulse,” was designed for New York.) A competitor arose, Premier Exhibitions, and opened a series of successful exhibitions in the United States (including one that has been closed at the South Street Seaport since Hurricane Sandy.

    (Source: The New York TImes)

    Aboriginal remains laid to rest in northern Victoria In the period following European settlement, thousands of bones of Aboriginal people were taken to museums both in Australia and overseas, often for scientific research. But in recent decades, museums and other research institutions have handed back skeletal remains to traditional owners so they can be buried on their home country. This week, the remains of three Aboriginal males were laid to rest in Boort, a small town north west of Bendigo, Victoria. Clan member Jida Gulpilil says it is the right place for them to be buried. “[Boort] is a powerful cultural place. It is part of the land where we live, where we walk and where we die as well,” Mr Gulpilil said. “We need to honour those who walked this land thousands of years before us. “When we practice our cultural business here we can feel that the place is alive.” (Source: ABC News)

    Aboriginal remains laid to rest in northern Victoria

    In the period following European settlement, thousands of bones of Aboriginal people were taken to museums both in Australia and overseas, often for scientific research.

    But in recent decades, museums and other research institutions have handed back skeletal remains to traditional owners so they can be buried on their home country.

    This week, the remains of three Aboriginal males were laid to rest in Boort, a small town north west of Bendigo, Victoria.

    Clan member Jida Gulpilil says it is the right place for them to be buried.

    “[Boort] is a powerful cultural place. It is part of the land where we live, where we walk and where we die as well,” Mr Gulpilil said.

    “We need to honour those who walked this land thousands of years before us.

    “When we practice our cultural business here we can feel that the place is alive.”

    (Source: ABC News)

    Druid wants fake bones at Stonehenge

    A druid leader is calling for fake, rather than real, human remains to be put on display at Stonehenge.

    In an open letter, King Arthur Pendragon has criticised English Heritage for the “macabre manner” it plans to display “ancestral remains”.

    In 2011 he lost a High Court bid to have bones, found in 2008, reburied.

    English Heritage said the remains are not from the 2008 excavation and their “presentation, treatment and storage” will follow strict UK guidelines.

    The cremated remains of more than 40 bodies, thought to be at least 5,000 years old, were removed from a burial site at the ancient stone circle five years ago.

    According to Mr Pendragon, the bones were the remains of members of the “royal line” or “priest caste” who could have been the “founding fathers of this great nation”.

    “There are cremated remains and a full skeleton from one of the barrows, which they’re planning to put on display,” he said.

    “This is not only out of step with the feelings of many of the peoples and groups that I represent but is surely against the driving cultural principles of a Unesco World Heritage Site.”

    (Source: BBC News)

    Clues to the Thirty Years’ War: Mass Grave Begins Revealing Soldiers’ Secrets It was one of the bloodiest battles of the Thirty Years’ War, but until recently there was no trace of those who died there. Now a mass grave is shedding light on the mysteries of the Battle of Lützen. Were those who fought hungry young men or well-fed veterans? And where did they come from? The morning of November 16, 1632 was foggy, so the mass killing could only begin after some delay. It wasn’t until midday that the mist cleared, finally allowing the Protestant army of Sweden’s King Gustav II Adolf to attack the Roman Catholic Habsburg imperial army led by Albrecht von Wallenstein. The slaughter lasted for hours in the field at the Saxon town of Lützen. (Source: Speigel Online)

    Clues to the Thirty Years’ War: Mass Grave Begins Revealing Soldiers’ Secrets

    It was one of the bloodiest battles of the Thirty Years’ War, but until recently there was no trace of those who died there. Now a mass grave is shedding light on the mysteries of the Battle of Lützen. Were those who fought hungry young men or well-fed veterans? And where did they come from?

    The morning of November 16, 1632 was foggy, so the mass killing could only begin after some delay. It wasn’t until midday that the mist cleared, finally allowing the Protestant army of Sweden’s King Gustav II Adolf to attack the Roman Catholic Habsburg imperial army led by Albrecht von Wallenstein. The slaughter lasted for hours in the field at the Saxon town of Lützen.

    (Source: Speigel Online)

    averagearchaeologist: violette-royale: Remains from mass grave, Battle of Visby. The battle was fought in July 1361 outside Visby, on the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland, between invading Danish troops and the local, Gutnish, forces. The Danish won a decisive victory. Due to the heat, the dead had to be disposed of quickly, and many were buried in their armour. The archaeological excavation of one of the mass graves, in the 1930s, revealed over 1000 skeletons. In comparison with the later medieval mass grave from the English battle of Towton, the remains from Visby showed more shin injuries and fewer cranial injuries. This suggests that the chainmail coifs, which had gone out of fashion at the time of the battle of Towton (1461), provided relatively good protection, and that greaves were probably not worn. The osteological analysis suggested that the dead included both juveniles and elderly, indicating that many were not professional soldiers. Others probably were, as suggested by the presence of previously healed injuries. Some of the remains can be seen in the Gotland museum in Visby. Well, one guess where I’m gonna try and go.

    averagearchaeologist:

    violette-royale:

    Remains from mass grave, Battle of Visby. The battle was fought in July 1361 outside Visby, on the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland, between invading Danish troops and the local, Gutnish, forces. The Danish won a decisive victory.

    Due to the heat, the dead had to be disposed of quickly, and many were buried in their armour. The archaeological excavation of one of the mass graves, in the 1930s, revealed over 1000 skeletons. In comparison with the later medieval mass grave from the English battle of Towton, the remains from Visby showed more shin injuries and fewer cranial injuries. This suggests that the chainmail coifs, which had gone out of fashion at the time of the battle of Towton (1461), provided relatively good protection, and that greaves were probably not worn.

    The osteological analysis suggested that the dead included both juveniles and elderly, indicating that many were not professional soldiers. Others probably were, as suggested by the presence of previously healed injuries.

    Some of the remains can be seen in the Gotland museum in Visby.

    Well, one guess where I’m gonna try and go.

    (via fuckyeahforensics)

    Carbon tests on 'battle casualty'

    Tests are under way on a skeleton found in an East Sussex town to find out if it could be a casualty of the 1264 Battle of Lewes.

    Lewes is gearing up for celebrations next year to mark the 750th anniversary of the battle.

    York University experts are testing bones thought to be those of a soldier.

    Sussex Archaeological Society said if the skeleton was found to be a battlefield victim, it would take centre stage in events in 2014.

    (Source: BBC News)

    Mystery of the missing Knight from the Middle Ages is solved as researchers find his family crypt under an Edinburgh car parkResearchers believe they have found a family crypt belonging to the Knight recently found buried under an Edinburgh car park. Seven full and one partial skeleton have been found, including an adult female and infant skeleton, just yards from the area the Knight was discovered earlier this year. Archaeologists believe this could be the remains of a family crypt, and say the may find more human remains. Ross Murray, the archaeologist who is leading the dig, said ‘This site just keeps getting more and more interesting, it is turning out to be a real treasure trove of archaeology.  ‘We just can’t seem to stop finding skeletons and bones. ‘These new finds looks likely to be the possible relations of the suspected Medieval Knight we found earlier this year. (Source: Daily Mail)

    Mystery of the missing Knight from the Middle Ages is solved as researchers find his family crypt under an Edinburgh car park

    Researchers believe they have found a family crypt belonging to the Knight recently found buried under an Edinburgh car park.

    Seven full and one partial skeleton have been found, including an adult female and infant skeleton, just yards from the area the Knight was discovered earlier this year.

    Archaeologists believe this could be the remains of a family crypt, and say the may find more human remains.

    Ross Murray, the archaeologist who is leading the dig, said ‘This site just keeps getting more and more interesting, it is turning out to be a real treasure trove of archaeology. 

    ‘We just can’t seem to stop finding skeletons and bones.

    ‘These new finds looks likely to be the possible relations of the suspected Medieval Knight we found earlier this year.

    (Source: Daily Mail)

    Richard III row heads to High Court

    Distant relatives of Richard III have started legal proceedings to challenge the plan to bury the king’s remains in Leicester.

    Lawyers have lodged papers in the High Court seeking a judicial review of the decision made by the Ministry of Justice.

    Many of his relatives want the body buried in York, claiming it was King Richard’s wish.

    Leicester’s mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, has described the case as “daft”.

    (Source: BBC News)

    140 ancient burials unearthed in northern Vietnam : Archaeology News from Past Horizons

    An archaeological dig led by Dr Marc Oxenham from The Australian National University’s School of Archaeology and Anthropology has uncovered possibly the earliest cemetery site in Southeast Asia.

    More than 140 ancient burials including men, women, teenagers and children have been recovered from the site in the Thanh Hoa province in northern Vietnam.

    (Source: Past Horizons)

    Another Car Park, Another Amazing Discovery University of Leicester Archaeological Services finds 1,700-year-old cemetery with unusual practice of Christian and pagan burials. The University of Leicester archaeological unit that discovered King Richard III has spearheaded another dig and discovered a 1,700-old- Roman cemetery – under another car park in Leicester. The latest dig follows the historic discovery of King Richard III by colleagues from the same unit. The find has revealed remains thought to date back to 300AD – and includes personal items such as hairpins, rings, belt buckles and remains of shoes. In addition, the team has found a jet ring with a curious symbol etched onto it, apparently showing the letters IX overlain.  Opinion as to its meaning is divided; it may just be an attractive design but it is also reminiscent of an early Christian symbol known as an IX (Iota-Chi) monogram taken from the initials of Jesus Christ in Greek. The University of Leicester archaeologists have also identified the unusual practice of Christian burials alongside pagan burials. Photograph: University of Leicester (Source: Heritage Daily)

    Another Car Park, Another Amazing Discovery

    University of Leicester Archaeological Services finds 1,700-year-old cemetery with unusual practice of Christian and pagan burials.

    The University of Leicester archaeological unit that discovered King Richard III has spearheaded another dig and discovered a 1,700-old- Roman cemetery – under another car park in Leicester.

    The latest dig follows the historic discovery of King Richard III by colleagues from the same unit.

    The find has revealed remains thought to date back to 300AD – and includes personal items such as hairpins, rings, belt buckles and remains of shoes.

    In addition, the team has found a jet ring with a curious symbol etched onto it, apparently showing the letters IX overlain.  Opinion as to its meaning is divided; it may just be an attractive design but it is also reminiscent of an early Christian symbol known as an IX (Iota-Chi) monogram taken from the initials of Jesus Christ in Greek.

    The University of Leicester archaeologists have also identified the unusual practice of Christian burials alongside pagan burials.

    Photograph: University of Leicester

    (Source: Heritage Daily)

    Mystery of 200-year-old British soldier found in the dunes of Holland The 200-year-old body of a British Coldstream Guards soldier was found in sand dunes in the Netherlands. Who was he? For more than two centuries, the remains of a soldier lay undisturbed on a windy beach in the northern Netherlands. But in March 2011, birdwatchers discovered bones and metal artefacts among sand-dunes that had once been covered in asphalt. The find was near an area known as the “Bonehole” because of the number of historic remains that had previously been unearthed. A team of archaeologists was called in to dig further. Among them was 28-year-old Esther Poulus, whose involvement was to lead her to the National Archives in Kew, Surrey, in an attempt to discover the identity of the fallen soldier. (Source: BBC News)

    Mystery of 200-year-old British soldier found in the dunes of Holland

    The 200-year-old body of a British Coldstream Guards soldier was found in sand dunes in the Netherlands. Who was he?

    For more than two centuries, the remains of a soldier lay undisturbed on a windy beach in the northern Netherlands.

    But in March 2011, birdwatchers discovered bones and metal artefacts among sand-dunes that had once been covered in asphalt.

    The find was near an area known as the “Bonehole” because of the number of historic remains that had previously been unearthed.

    A team of archaeologists was called in to dig further. Among them was 28-year-old Esther Poulus, whose involvement was to lead her to the National Archives in Kew, Surrey, in an attempt to discover the identity of the fallen soldier.

    (Source: BBC News)

    smithsonianmag: Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Eating a Child The harsh winter of 1609 in Virginia’s Jamestown Colony forced residents to do the unthinkable. A recent excavation at the historic site discovered the carcasses of dogs, cats and horses consumed during the season commonly called the “Starving Time.” But a few other newly discovered bones in particular, though, tell a far more gruesome story: the dismemberment and cannibalization of a 14-year-old English girl. Find out how researchers made this discovery at Smithsonian.com.

    smithsonianmag:

    Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Eating a Child

    The harsh winter of 1609 in Virginia’s Jamestown Colony forced residents to do the unthinkable. A recent excavation at the historic site discovered the carcasses of dogs, cats and horses consumed during the season commonly called the “Starving Time.” But a few other newly discovered bones in particular, though, tell a far more gruesome story: the dismemberment and cannibalization of a 14-year-old English girl. Find out how researchers made this discovery at Smithsonian.com.