"Bones are ancestors. Bones are fossils. Bones are saints, specimens, and victims. Bones are merchandise and trophies. Bones are art."

So writes Christine Quigley at the start of her new book, Skulls and Skeletons: Human Bone Collections and Accumulations. Not a book that technically belongs on this website, it nonetheless provides a fascinating survey of skeletal human remains worldwide: from the catacombs in Rome and Paris to the ossuaries in various churches to mass graves to museum collections. At first glance, the book seems to be a catalog of places that bones have been found and where bones now reside. But Quigley has much more to say about skeletal remains, their study, and exhibition.

The catalog aspects of the book are illuminating. Quigley covers the terrain carefully and thoroughly. She also provides a chronology of human excavations as well as collections of skeletons and bones in world museums (often in the back room and not meant for the public). Some entries are more detailed than others, especially when Quigley has personal knowledge (such as her write up of the Dickson Mounds in Illinois, the Hamann-Todd Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia). These entries show Quigley at her best.

Quigley also discusses decorated bones (the painted skulls from Halstatt, Austria are prime examples here) and the treatment of bones in museums (how does a curator degrease a bone? You'll learn a number of techniques including my favorite: dermestid beetles). 

The last 40 pages survey the legislation on repatriation of human remains to indigenous peoples around the world and the losses that have resulted. Quigley may not win any fans from those who do not believe that human remains should be exhibited, but hers is a thoughtful, even-handed analysis of the gains and losses. She also has some useful suggestions how to continue the collection of bones in a more respectful and sensitive way.

An excellent book from a writer who knows (and has pondered) the dead. It's a great companion book to Modern Mummies, her last work. Well-illustrated with 67 black and white photos. 263 pages.