13 research outputs found
A Biocultural Analysis of Mortuary Practices in the Later Anglo-Saxon to Anglo-Norman Black Gate Cemetery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
The Gene for hereditary sensory neuropathy type I (HSN-I) maps to chromosome 9q22.1-q22.3
4 page(s
Curious afterlives: the enduring appeal of the criminal corpse
Not only did the criminal corpse have actual medicinal and magical power for Europeans, it also had social and cultural meaning as an object, a curio or secular relic. This paper considers the appeal of notorious bodies. From books bound in the skin of a criminal, to preserved and exhibited heads, from fragments of the hangmanâs rope to the exhibition of the skeleton, the story of the afterlife of criminal bodies and the material culture most immediately associated with them begins with the collection and exchange of bodies and moves into contemporary preoccupations with authenticity. This paper considers the bodies of three notorious criminals of the eighteenth century: Eugene Aram, William Burke and William Corder. It ends with some reflections on the glamour of the authentic body of a notorious or celebrated individual â using the response to the discovery of the body of Richard III as an example