Skulls and Skeletons: Human Bone Collections and Accumulations

Christine Quigley

ISBN 10: 078641068X / ISBN 13: 9780786410682

Published by McFarland Publishing, Jefferson, NC, 2001

About this Item

Author signed on the title pager. White lettering on black pictorial covers. 4to, 263pp.

Seller Inventory # 008185

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Skulls and Skeletons: Human Bone Collections and Accumulations
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing, Jefferson, NC
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 078641068X
• ISBN 13: 9780786410682
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

Of the parts of the human body, the bones have a unique durability that lends itself to collection. Provided a body has not been cremated, the skeletal remains can be recovered even millions of years after death, cleaned of flesh and debris, studied at length, and stored indefinitely without the maintenance that wet specimens require. Motivations for collecting human skeletal material range from the practical (in anthropology, medicine, forensics) to the ritualistic (phrenology, in the relics of martyrs and saints). This book is an examination of those motivations and the collections they have brought about - catacombs, ossuaries, mass graves, prehistoric excavations, private collections, and institutions. The book contains sections on procuring, handling, storing, transporting, cleaning, and identifying skeletal remains. The repatriation of remains and legislation covering the topic are also addressed.

About the Author

Christine Quigley is the office manager for Georgetown University Press.