"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.
