Death – Page 3 – Pathological Bodies Project

The Archaeology of Vaccination (18th- 20th Centuries): An Examination of Four Diseases

With the recent development of Covid-19 vaccines by Moderna, Oxford University and Pfizer, there seems to be little else on everyone’s mind. Vaccination against deadly diseases has a history that can been illustrated in archaeological examples left behind. Death rates from crude attempts at ‘variolation’ (the practice of grounding up smallpox scabs for inhalation or scratching onto the skin) had a death rate as high as 30% in China during the 16th century. Refining of such techniques using inoculation and vaccination has led to a revolution in global health, with some diseases such as smallpox eradicated completely.
This blog post will examine the history of vaccines in the last 300 years, associated with four deadly diseases, by examining archaeological examples in museums. There are many more vaccinations for an array of diseases, but I have narrowed it down to four for this blog post. Although proven to be safe and effective, vaccines are becoming more and more controversial in today’s society- something that can be traced back to past societies as well.

Disease: Smallpox
Symptoms: Fever, aches, vomiting, rash, sores, and pustules that eventually scab and fall off.
Objects: Civil War Era Vaccine (Mutter Museum) and Lancets of Edward Jenner 19th century (Science Museum)

When one thinks of vaccination, Edward Jenner and smallpox usually springs to mind. Inoculation was being practiced in China as far back as 1000 years ago. This inoculation was being carried out using pus or scabs from smallpox to boost immunity against the disease. It was around the 18th century this concept began to develop in Europe. Lady Wortley Montagu seen the ‘scratch method’ of inoculation in 1721 in Turkey and used this method to inoculate her own children against smallpox. She is credited with introducing this method to London high society.
Edward Jenner (1749-1823) noticed a similar practice on English farms and in the surrounding communities. Milkmaids in the countryside were renowned for having a clear complexion. This was because they were often infected with cowpox, meaning they were often left immune to smallpox (thus not having any facial scarring). Locals began to inoculate themselves with cowpox to immunize against the deadlier smallpox. Jenner adapted this method in his own practice, applying pus from a milkmaid’s cowpox pustule (these were usually on the hand) to that of a young boy in 1796. You can still see the lancets Jenner used to apply the pus to the boy’s arm, he would have used the scratching technique. He later exposed the boy to smallpox, after which no disease developed. In 1798, Jenner published his findings in a book entitled ‘An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae; a Disease Discovered in some of the Western Counties of England, Particularly Gloucestershire, and Known by the Name of The Cow Pox’ (Vacca is the Latin word for cow).

George Washington insisted on quarantining regulations within the Continental army in the 1770’s when smallpox outbreaks occurred, eventually crudely inoculating the army in 1777. A higher percentage of British troops had already suffered from smallpox, unlike the Americans who were more susceptible to catching the disease. Unlike Jenner, Washington was inoculating the army with the live smallpox virus- a very risky procedure instead of using a milder related orthopoxvirus. Vaccination was also being carried out in the army during the American Civil war (c.1860’s), an example of a lancet vaccination kit can be seen at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. Like Jenner’s kit, it consisted of lancets for scratching. DNA testing of the blades revealed a virus used for vaccination was present, there were no signs of the smallpox virus itself.

Six lancets of Edward Jenner used for vaccination

Civil War era lancet kit for vaccination

Disease: Cholera
Symptoms: Diarrhoea, vomiting, thirst, cramps.
Objects: Glass Amboules of Cholera Vaccine 1924 and 1892 (Wellcome Collection)

Cholera is most associated with the physician John Snow, who mapped the cases of cholera in Soho, London in the 1850’s – Asiatic cholera reached Britain in 1831. This allowed him to conclude that the water supply was the source of the disease, debunking claims concerning miasma theory. Prior to this there had been numerous outbreaks of cholera in Britain, with 1854 becoming the worst year of the disease to take hold. Snow realised sewerage contamination was the cause of the disease, suggesting the removal of the pump handle in the affected area.
However, it was not until 1885 that the vaccine was developed by Spanish physician Jaime Ferrán (1852-1929). The cholera vaccine was the first vaccine to protect humans against a bacterial disease. The vaccine was developed when Ferrán cultivated bacteria from an ill person and then administered injections into the arm (not the scratch technique). He went on to develop vaccines for plague, rabies, and tetanus. Louis Pasteur is also credited with developing a cholera vaccine using chickens. He used a weakened culture to inoculate the chickens, after survival they were immune to the disease. The Wellcome collection houses a 1892 example of the vaccine that had been developed from inoculating guinea-pigs.
In the Wellcome Collection, there is an example of the cholera vaccine dating to 1924. The amboules are French (from Paris), and have the name of a laboratory that developed vaccines for the army. Because of the water-borne nature of the disease, cholera, as well as typhoid, were considered serious threats to soldiers. Vaccination was a part of an initiative to keep the army healthy. This strongly echoes the times of the smallpox outbreaks amongst American soldiers in the previous centuries – however we see the move away from the previously crude ‘scratch’ technique with a lancet.

Disease: Influenza
Symptoms: Fatigue, aches, chills, cough, sore throat, fever, headache.
Object: 1919 Influenza Vaccine (Pharmaceutical Society Museum)

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, there has been many comparisons drawn between today’s pandemic and the Spanish Flu H1N1 pandemic of 1918. The spread of the disease was exacerbated by movement of troops at the end of World War 1. Half a billion people all over the world were infected, eventually killing somewhere between 50-100 million people- the most severe pandemic in recent history. Mortality rates were high in children under 5, the elderly and those aged between 20-40 years old (the healthy being susceptible was unique in this pandemic). Prior to the vaccine, interventions such as quarantine, hand hygiene, social distancing, and disinfecting were used to control the illness.

Vaccines had been developed for other diseases at the time of the outbreak, so it was hopeful a vaccine could be developed for influenza. A few vaccines developed around this time are now thought to have been ineffective. As the disease was viral influenza, it would not have been treated by these newly developed bacterial vaccines, but many may have prevented pneumonia from developing. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that researchers realised that influenza was caused by a virus (in the 1918 case it was influenza A strain) – it was successfully isolated in 1933. It can be said then that the 1919 vaccine example from the Pharmaceutical Society Museum was likely ineffective during the outbreak. This had been developed by the Royal Army Medical College using lung scrapings from infected patients.
The influenza A vaccine was developed in the 1930’s, followed shortly by the influenza B vaccine in 1942. In 1945 the vaccine (for both A and B) was approved for military use in the US and for public use in 1946. Both Dr Thomas Francis and Dr Jonas Salk were involved in flu vaccine research and development after Ernest William Goodpasture was able to grow viruses using chicken embryos in 1931.

Disease: Tuberculosis
Symptoms: Cough with bloody phlegm, weight loss, sweats, fever, fatigue, neck swellings.
Object: Freeze dried BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guerin) Vaccine 1980 (Science Museum Group)

The BCG vaccine is made from a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis, close in nature to M. tuberculosis which causes TB. Bacteriologists Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin are credited with developing the vaccine between 1908 and 1921 at the Pasteur Institute, Lille, France – the oral dose was endorsed by the League of Nations in 1928. Calmette was a pupil of Louis Pasteur and had acquired Mycobacterium bovis from the milk of an infected cow. The vaccine was adopted in France and Scandinavia initially, with widespread distribution stalled due to a contamination that killed 75 babies vaccinated within 10 days of birth- known as the 1930 Lubeck Disaster. The vaccine eventually became widespread after the Second world war and is administered via needle into the arm today.
The Science Museum houses a set of freeze-dried intradermal BCG vaccine dating to 1980-85. Made by Evans Medical Ltd, freeze drying allowing for transportation over long distances. This would have been particularly significant at the time as in the 1980’s there was a rise in TB cases in developed countries due to healthcare complacency, movement of people from countries with a lot of TB cases, and the spread of the HIV (there is evidence of co-infection). According to the World Health Organisation, TB kills 1.8 million people every year, with one third of the global population infected but asymptomatic. Despite initial reluctance in uptake, over 4 billion people have now been vaccinated against TB, making it the most widely used vaccine in the world. Unlike the UK, the US has never introduced mass use of the vaccine as it is thought there are not many cases of TB in America- vaccines can be purchased privately for around $100-200.

Freeze dried BCG Vaccine dated between 1980-1985

Death Folklore in Ireland: Three Examples of Death Omens in Irish Culture

Growing up in rural Catholic Ireland I often came in across traditional stories associated with death. As far back as primary school, I was warned all about the Banshee and her screams and attended traditional Irish wakes of loved ones. Death was an important part of our culture. I recently read Dr Marie Cassidy’s book ‘Beyond the Tape: The Life and Many Deaths of a State Pathologist’, her memoir which recounts her years as Ireland’s State Pathologist between 2004 and 2018. One statement in her book stood out to me, ‘The Irish are obsessed with death’. No truer words were spoken in my opinion, and since moving to the UK 5 years ago that has become more apparent to me as I talk about death with others. Cassidy states attending funerals in Ireland is a national sport and instead of checking your horoscope, the Irish listen to the death notices on the radio- this conjures up so many memories from my childhood! The Irish feeling comfortable with death likely steams from our past, including stories of folklore and mythology. In this blogpost I will discuss three examples of death omens in Irish culture.

The Banshee (Bean Sidhe)
Perhaps the most famous of all Irish legends associated with death is the Banshee or Bean Sidhe, meaning ‘woman of the fairies’. Most children in Ireland know about this legend, usually told by grandparents to give them a scare. There are endless sources on the Banshee, all stating she is a supernatural being whose scream foretells the death of a loved one. She usually wears a dark cloak, has a ghostly complexion and has flowing red or white hair. There are conflicting ‘first-hand’ accounts of her age, either stating she is young or siren like, or old with a hag like appearance – either a maiden or a crone. It is her cry or scream that terrifies anyone who crosses her path, with Irish families with O’ or Mac/Mc as part of their surname most likely to become a victim to her shrieking. She often combs her long hair and will only turn violent or aggressive if someone finds her comb and steals it. I was often told as a child not to pick up any comb if found near a graveyard as it was likely the Banshee’s.
Keening women or bean chaointe (as Gaeilge) were a part of Irish mourning tradition and may have associations with the origins of the Banshee legend. Many writers state she only cries for the families of the O’Briens, the O’Connors, the O’Neills, and the O’Gradys to name a few. Sometimes she is described as a washer woman (bean nighe) seen washing the blood-stained clothes of the family member about to die.

The Banshee with flowing hair and red eyes from crying

The Coiste Bodhar (Death Coach or Coach-a-bower)
The death coach in Irish folklore is often thought to be summoned by the wails of the Banshee. A headless horseman drives the coach, sometimes thought to carry a black coffin, and pulled by headless horses (very similar to the Legend of Sleepy Hollow). Like the Banshee, the coach foretells the death of a loved one, and will only leave once it has claimed a soul. The creature known as the Dullahan drives the coach (sometimes called Gan Ceann as Gaeilge), a headless male figure that sometimes carries their own head with a hideous grin. WB Yeats mentions the coach in his collection of Irish Folk Tales. Yeats states the coach will rumble to your door and, if you open it, blood will be thrown into your face. Yeats also states that as well as the coach and the banshee, some families know death is near by the crack of a whip or the attendance of ravens. Often it is stated that the coach travels so quickly it sets fire to the road, and that locks on houses and gates would not deter the coachman- the only thing to scare away the Dullahan was the sight of gold.

Fetch
In Ireland, a Fetch is a supernatural double of a living person – like that of a doppelganger. Sighting of a fetch, particularly at night, signifies the death of that person. Some suggest the word originates from the Irish word for seer or prophet (fáith), other than that there is very little said about the origins of the term (it may also have some association with Norway). It is thought the term dates back as far as the 16th century but rose to prominence in the 19th century when mentioned in the gothic story ‘The Fetches’ by John and Michael Banim. The Fetch was also mentioned in the letters of Sir Walter Scott on Demonology and Witchcraft, 1830.

Sources
https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/519813981974706033/
https://www.celtic-weddingrings.com/celtic-mythology/legend-of-the-banshee
https://www.britannica.com/topic/banshee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee
https://www.irishpost.com/life-style/exploring-irish-mythology-banshee-170287
https://irishfolklore.wordpress.com/tag/banshee-comb/
https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5009217/4998868
https://www.connollycove.com/insight-irish-wake-superstitions-associated/
https://www.yourirish.com/folklore/coiste-bodhar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Coach
https://books.google.co.uk/books?redir_esc=y&id=pp_SVHuVsFoC&q=bodhar#v=snippet&q=bodhar&f=false
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dullahan
https://celticmke.com/CelticMKE-Blog/Irish-Headless-Horseman.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetch_(folklore) https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/360358407661878293/ https://www.libraryireland.com/LegendaryFictionsIrishCelts/Contents.php

Death and Sex: The Sexualisation of Victorian Women’s Mourning Attire

In 2014-2015, the Met Museum in New York held an exhibition entitled ‘Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire’. The exhibit displayed 30 pieces of Victorian mourning attire (for female mourners) dating from the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The exhibit gave a fascinating insight into the standards women were expected to uphold during their period of mourning in the 1800’s. When we think of Victorian bereavement rituals, we automatically think of the ‘widow’s weeds’ all black ensemble. And whilst we might think this attire might have been just been about death, dying and grief, it may also may have been about something else- sex. The Death Becomes Her Exhibit illustrated this point.

According to one of the curators for the exhibit, Harold Koda, “The veiled widow could elicit sympathy as well as predatory male advances. As a woman of sexual experience without marital constraints, she was often imagined as a potential threat to the social order.” This suggested that the widow’s weeds were a symbol of sexual experience- she was no longer virginal (unlike the white worn at a wedding), and likely viewed by men as a candidate for casual sex. If she was a willing participant or initiated this arrangement, as Koda remarks, she was a threat to the social order.

In her article, ‘Sex, Death, Glamour: Victorian Funeral Style at the Met’, Bess Lovejoy discusses the Met exhibit and the links between Victorian widows and sex. The widow was a figure that aroused sympathy as well as sexual appeal. The long dresses oozed glamour, with black seen as ‘becoming’. As Lovejoy states- black is chic and sophisticated, along with beautifully made mourning jewellery the ensemble must have been striking. Mirroring a wedding dress with a veil, voluminous skirt and corseted waist, one can see how the lines were blurred between sex and death when one viewed the widow’s weeds. It is even suggested in the article that death can evoke interest in the opposite sex (as studies have shown). One glamourous dress that stands out in the exhibit is the ultra-glitzy purple sequined gown Queen Alexandra wore when she was mourning Queen Victoria (It was due to Queen Victoria and her prolonged mourning of Albert that mourning periods in black became commonplace).

Dress worn by Alexandra whilst in mourning for Queen Victoria

The burden of wearing black during the mourning period mainly fell to the woman of the house. In full mourning garb, the woman would wear all black, eventually ‘diluting’ to a ‘half mourning’ period. During this period muted colours like grey and purple were worn. The intense period of mourning could last two years before muted colours became a wardrobe stable. Death was such a regular part of Victorian society that women could be wearing black for years on end. Interestingly, it was thought that ending the mourning period early meant a woman was sexually active. To see a widow out of her mourning dress was scandalous and once again linked to sex.

Dress similar in appearance to a wedding dress

It is suggested that these dresses were used to restrain men from making sexual advances. The wearing of black in fact was meant as a deterrent to male suitors – even though this likely had the opposite effect, especially if the widow was young. Society viewed a young widow as dangerous- she was untethered by marriage but had full sexual experience. She may have been vulnerable, having lost her social and financial status through her husband, but the black dress was a reminder to many of her associations with death as well as sex.

Sources

https://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2014/death-becomes-her

https://www.racked.com/2014/10/28/7571465/metropolitan-museum-of-art-funeral-attire

New Met Museum Exhibit “Death Becomes Her” Looks at A Century of Mourning Attire

https://www.thecultureconcept.com/death-becomes-her-a-century-of-mourning-attire-at-the-met-ny

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/grief-as-a-fashion-statement-in-death-becomes-her-at-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art/2014/11/12/819527a4-65f4-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html

The post-mortem fate of Marilyn Monroe: a case study of bodily integrity in death

When we think of the famous starlet, Marilyn Monroe, we think of the vivacious blond bombshell so full of life on our movie screens. Marilyn, born Norma Jean Mortensen, is by far one of the most well-known faces from the golden era of Hollywood. Like her life, her death was also full of controversy and is subject to conspiracy. I have read numerous articles and books, watched documentaries and listened to podcasts surrounding the circumstances of her death- with accusations of murder against the Kennedys, the Mafia and her medical team in numerous sources. Instead of discussing the topic of her death, I have decided to discuss the post-mortem treatment of Marilyn’s body. In life, her bodily autonomy was a subject of discussion for many a Hollywood executive. Whilst Marilyn was proud of her body and her overt sex appeal, one cannot deny how she was manipulated and used by many around her. She was painted as the ‘dumb blond’, despite the fact she was extremely intelligent and well read, she had an interest particularly in art history and classical literature. Unfortunately, issues regarding her bodily integrity also became apparent upon her death.

Marilyn died in her home on the 5^th of August 1962. She was naked in her bed, with her telephone in her hand having died from an apparent overdose. Once the news had broke of her death, paparazzi surrounded her house and images taken of her dead body in her bedroom by the police were later publicly released. The bottles of prescription drugs on her bedside cabinet were pointed out by someone posing in the infamous photograph beside her corpse. Videos were taken of the gurney rolling out of the house with her lifeless body laying upon it. Just mere hours after her death, Marilyn was already being exploited by the media- they swarmed the funeral home she was taken to (there have been reports her corpse was stuffed in a broom closet away from prying eyes).

An unsavoury article released by the Daily Mail in 2015 discusses the claims made by the famous funeral service, Abbott and Hast, that Marilyn looked awful upon her death. Abbott and Hast were famous during the 1960’s as the funeral service used by the rich and famous, having also handled the bodies of Natalie Wood and Clark Gable. According to Allan Abbott, he states when he saw the body of Marilyn that she ‘looked like a very average, aging woman who had not been taking very good care of herself’. He even goes on to comment on the condition of her manicure, her hair colour and the fact that she had not shaved her legs in ‘at least a week’. Her appearance was scrutinised even in death, even then she was held to the highest of beauty standards. She was still a female subject that could be criticised by the male gaze, worsened by the fact Abbott was trusted to care for her in a confidential, respectful manner but decided to make his comments public. Abbott further discusses her case in his book ‘Pardon My Hearse’, chronicling his time as a mortician in Hollywood. Marilyn’s makeup artist Whitey Snyder came to the funeral home to do her makeup and to fit a wig that was used on one of her movies. Synder discussed Marilyn’s breasts with Abbott in the funeral home, stating that they had begun to sag at her age and that she wore ‘falsies’ to keep her physique. One of the workers exclaimed ‘what happened to her boobs?’ when they first saw her after the autopsy, as the incision in her chest area and rib cutting had caused them to change shape. Once the employee had decided to stuff her bra with cotton wool in the coffin, they stood back and stated, ‘Now that looks like Marilyn Monroe!’ Sexualisation and scrutinization of her physique deemed acceptable even as she was laid out to be viewed by loved ones. As someone who has done some training in a funeral home setting, I cannot help but feel disgusted by this blatant lack of disrespect and breach of confidentiality. Abbott even auctioned off the ‘falsie’ breasts brought to the funeral home by her executrix, and some of her hair that was removed by the embalmer. It is unsettling but not unsurprising that these items were deemed acceptable to auction.

Medical attendants removing the body of Marilyn Monroe

Before Marilyn was transported to the funeral home at Westwood Village Mortuary for preparation, her body was brought in for autopsy. Her autopsy was carried out by Dr Thomas Noguchi, the deputy chief examiner. Her death was ruled a probable suicide from barbiturates, most notably Nembutal and Chloral Hydrate. At the morgue, a Life magazine photographer bribed a mortuary attendant with a bottle of whiskey to take a photo of her un-embalmed, freshly autopsied body. Another infamous photo of her corpse has been the subject of much scrutiny, with even more derogatory commentary made concerning her appearance in the years following her death (there have even been sickening claims of necrophilia). There have also been allegations that the Hollywood Museum of death stored and displayed some of the post autopsy images of her. Marilyn or her loved ones had no control over the photos being taken of her body, and she had no control over their subsequent distribution and display in the years following.

Marilyn’s funeral took place on the 8^th of August 1962 at the Westwood Village Mortuary Chapel, she was buried afterwards in the Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery. It was organised by her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio; she was dressed in a green Pucci dress with a green chiffon scarf with the casket opened for the ceremony.

Having recently listened to the excellent podcast episode by Morbid Podcast on the death of Marilyn Monroe, there are even more disturbing facts surrounding her resting place. A man named Richard Poncher requested to be buried in the space above Marilyn, he also requested to be buried face down so he could ‘lie on top of her’- this wish was granted upon his death. Hugh Hefner, the infamous mogul of Playboy magazine, was buried next to Marilyn. This was the very same man who used her nude photos without her permission in the first playmate edition of the magazine in the 1950s. If you visit her grave today, bright pink and red lipstick marks adorn the monument from her fans- particularly unsettling as Marilyn never wanted to be remembered as the ‘dumb blonde’ lipstick wearing sex pot she was portrayed as onscreen.

Marilyn’s body serves as a reminder of the importance of bodily integrity in death as well as life. Her case is a poignant study of how death does not make one exempt from bodily scrutiny and exploitation. The legal issues regarding the rights of the dead and bodily integrity are complicated and controversial. We are concerned with the autonomy of the dead as they are strongly linked to the body of the living who expresses their wishes whilst alive. The question arises as to whether the dead provoke feelings of concern regarding the treatment of the corpse. Using Marilyn as an example, it does not seem that controversial to say the dead deserve the same respect as the living.

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Sources

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112281183&t=1602255795359

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3117211/Marilyn-Monroe-purple-blotches-face-neck-swollen-lips-badly-chapped-dire-need-pedicure-high-school-buddies-old-hearse-ended-preparing-tragic-star-burial.html

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/SS680/Funeral_Marilyn_Monroe.html

http://morbid-curiosity.com/id139.htm

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7367199/Photos-Marilyn-Monroes-naked-corpse-taken-just-hours-death-new-doc-reveals.html

Marilyn Monroe Autopsy Photos – Graphic Content..Be Warned!

The death of Marilyn – bought to you by the male gaze!

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/marilyn-monroe-autopsy-pictures-uncovered-21318242

http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/about/facts/funeral.html

https://www.morbidpodcast.com/

Taraborrelli, J.R., 2009. The secret life of Marilyn Monroe. Grand Central Publishing.

Young, H., 2012. The right to posthumous bodily integrity and implications of whose right it is. Marq. Elder’s Adviser, 14, p.197.

https://www.startribune.com/marilyn-monroe-s-death-suspicions-linger-50-years-later/164679796/

Marilyn Monroe’s last home, her beloved Brentwood hacienda, is for sale

Embalming: A Help or Hindrance to Grief? A Personal and Professional Experience

Whilst many European countries do not feel the need to embalm their dead, Ireland is not one of them. Growing up in rural Catholic Ireland, I was exposed to the deceased bodies of loved ones from a very young age as it is tradition for us to ‘wake’ our dead at home. I was eight years old when I saw my first dead body, it was that of my grandfather who had died from a long battle with lung cancer. I remember seeing him a day before he died, he was struggling to breathe, gaunt and his skin had yellowed. It scared me to see him like this, so I was apprehensive seeing him in the coffin that was placed in the living room of my grandparents’ house. But he had transformed from the ill man I had seen the night before to someone who looked the peaceful picture of health. I did not know it at the time, but I came to realise it was the embalmer who had been responsible for this transformation. I lost other grandparents, cousins, aunties, uncles, and parents later down the line and was never afraid of viewing them in their coffin because of the peace I felt at seeing my grandfather.

I recently came across an article on time.com by Sallie Tisdale who discussed viewing her mother after she had died of breast cancer. She describes the transformative type process I just described seeing my grandfather, but for her the experience was overwhelmingly negative. She felt acceptance of her loss was hindered by the viewing, as her mother was made to ‘look alive’. Tisdale asks the important question, ‘why do we so often make a dead person appear alive?’
Caitlin Doughty of the Order of the Good Death does an excellent job of educating the public on embalming practices in America. Doughty does a series of YouTube videos (Ask a Mortician Channel) discussing what happens to a body during embalming. On the Order of the Good Death Websites there is plenty of information about how embalming became common practice (spoiler- The American Civil War played a large part) as well as the dangers and myths associated with dead bodies and the practice itself. Doughty does not condemn the practice but makes sure that the public know it is not always necessary, it can often be an extra cost to families.

From personal experience, embalming has helped immensely in the grieving process. My Father passed when I was 19 years old very suddenly in an accident and he was embalmed as part of the Catholic wake tradition. However, it was my Mother’s death when I was 25 years old where I felt embalming personally helped my grieving. My Mother died of brain cancer and had been ill for quite some time before her passing. She was only 50 years old when she died and had always looked quite youthful for her age until the disease began to progress. She was a shadow of her former self in the care home she was in, she had swollen limbs from excessive medication, her complexion was pale, and she was constantly agitated and confused. On her passing, seeing her in the funeral home after her embalming felt like a huge relief. She looked like her glamourous self again, more peaceful in death than she had been in life. Unlike Tisdale, I was appreciative of the practice as we had a chance to say goodbye to our Mother in the way we wanted to remember her. This may also have been down to differences in the work and skill of each embalmer, our embalmer did not go overboard with any makeup etc. Two weeks after her death I began assisting an embalmer and understood the practice fully. Whilst the practice itself is quite invasive, I was fascinated by it and asked the mortician about families who opted out of the practice. He told me they always make sure families know the extras costs and tell them it is not always necessary, but some still feel the need to go ahead with the embalming as it is how they grieve. What is important here is that families know their options, and the funeral home are not exploiting people when they are vulnerable.

There have also been suggestions that embalming has psychological implications in American society. Psychologists have suggested that embalming can be considered a ‘final assault on the self’ and that the natural looking deceased can encourage denial of death in loved ones. There is also some suggestion in other studies that there was more regret surrounding not viewing the body than having the body embalmed. Again, personal preference plays a large role. One lady describes how viewing her mother after she was embalmed disturbed her, but it brought her brother peace.

As someone with a background in archaeology, with an interest in how we preserved the dead in the past (as educational specimens and as part of funeral rites), it is no wonder this has interlinked with my professional life. Although modern embalming methods are strongly linked to the American Civil War, different cultures from all over the world have been preserving their dead in various ways as part of their grieving process for thousands of years- in the same way that many have not. It comes down to understanding the various options out there, and what works for some does not work for others. So, does embalming hinder the grieving process? The answer will never be the same for everyone.

Sources

http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/resources/embalming#4
https://time.com/5542117/death-embalming-preservation-cremation-mourning/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21724769/embalming-allows-people-to-initiate-grief-process
Palermo, G.B., Gumz, E.J. The last invasion of human privacy and its psychological consequences on survivors: A critique of the practice of embalming. Theoretical Medicine 15, 397–408 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993797
https://www.funeralbasics.org/what-is-embalming/embalming-and-grief-process/
https://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2032
https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-embalming-1132124

The Archaeology of Public Execution in 19th Century Britain: a narrative told through the examination of three accused.

Prior to the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868, executions of criminals were public affairs. After the introduction of this act, executions were carried out within the walls of the prison, away from the prying eyes of the general public. In the Victorian era, hanging could attract thousands of spectators- with the events usually advertised prior and reported on in local broadsheets. Prior to 1861 around 222 crimes were considered capital offences until this was rectified by the Criminal Law Consolidation Act. The act meant four crimes were considered a hanging offence, these included murder, arson in a royal dockyard, violent piracy and treason.
The introduction of the ‘long drop’ during this period allowed for a more successful attempt at an instantaneous death. Prior to this strangulation was the only means by which death occurred when hanged. With this new ‘improved method’, the hanged would likely die from dislocated vertebrae or a rupture of the jugular vein. It is likely the accused I discuss below were not on the receiving end of this method, as it was only being introduced into England by William Marwood in the 1870’s after the concept had been developed in Ireland after the autopsy of a hanging at Galway Gaol in 1853.
The examples of the executions I have chosen for this blog post dated prior to 1868 (except for one part of the discussion), before the introduction of the act. From 1874 more measures to ensure quicker methods of hanging were introduced and the accused were treated more humanely. It is through the victims of execution that we get insights into societal attitudes to execution as spectacle, i.e. how they were treated and what remains of them in the archaeological and historical record.

William Burke: Executed in 1829, Edinburgh.
Perhaps the most infamous murderers of the 19th century, Burke and Hare are thought to have killed upwards of 16 people for the price of seven to ten pounds per body. The victims were killed for dissection and paid for by for the well-known anatomy professor, Robert Knox. The duo is most associated with the term ‘body snatchers’ and had a part to play in the introduction of the 1832 Anatomy Act that allowed legal cadaver donation to medical science to stop the illicit cadaver trade. Burke was hanged in front of a crowd of 25,000 and his body was put on public display before being donated to medical science. The famous Professor Alexander Monro tertius carried out the public dissection of Burke’s corpse. This shows that, even after the execution had been carried out, the bodies of criminals were still used as public entertainment. Hare escaped across the border into England after testifying against Burke, and his whereabouts became unknown shortly after that. Anatomy students are thought to have taken Burke’s skin to use as book binding and as other ‘souvenirs’. His death mask and skeleton are still on display in the Surgeons Hall museum Edinburgh and at University of Edinburgh, as well as a pocketbook made from his skin. The keeping of such ‘curiosities’ emphasises the fascination society had, and still has, on criminals of violent crimes. I myself have visited Surgeons Hall museum to view these types of specimens.

Maria Manning: Executed with her husband, Fredrick, in 1849, London.
Maria was born in Switzerland in 1821 and moved to London to work as a maid to Lady Blantyre. Blantyre was a wealthy woman, and the daughter of the Duchess of Sunderland. After having been proposed to by two men- Fredrick Manning and Patrick O Connor- Maria chose to marry Fredrick, a decision she came to regret as O Connor had been the wealthier of the two men. She lured O Connor to her home for dinner, under the pretence she would provide sexual favours, and shot him in the back of the head. The shot did not kill him, with Fredrick finished him off with a crowbar. The murder was motivated by money and jealously, with O Connors body being discovered under the couple’s flagstones by police. Up to 50,000 people are thought to have attended the hangings, with Charles Dickens attending the execution himself. Maria was considered ‘the star of the show’, with her black satin dress she was executed in sold for profit and her death mask was included in Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors. The Wellcome Trust has the copy of the lithograph entitled ‘The death mask of Maria Manning, the murdered: three views’ by John Lane, created in attempt to assist Tussaud with the likeness. The sexual motivations for the murder and the dominance of the female in the marriage both intrigued and disgusted Victorians. Maria was sensationalised as glamorous, and with the executions of women being particularly rare it’s no wonder her execution caused such an interest. The couple were apparently the first couple to be hanged together since 1700. The broadsheet printed on the execution is held by the British Library, these sheets were cheaply produced and sold on the streets to the masses. It is thought the Manning broadsheet printed around 2.5 million copies.

Sarah Lloyd: Executed in 1800, Bury St Edmonds.
Sarah Lloyd was no more than 22 years of age when she was executed. Her story is tragic and emphasises the importance put upon obedience in female servants at the time. An illiterate servant, Sarah was enlisted by a man called Joseph Clarke to steal from her mistress, after which he attempted to set the house on fire. Clarke never admitted to any crime, and the judge decided Sarah would be made an example of. He sentenced her to death despite numerous outcries. The local Rev Drummond petitioned for Sarah as he recognised her as a ‘helpless instrument’ who had fallen under Clarke’s spell. Clarke did not receive any punishment for his crimes. Sarah was executed in front of a weeping crowd on the 23rd April 1800, she highlighted the type of person that was the most likely to be executed – a person of lower class and with little education (Sarah wasn’t even sure of her own age, she may have been only 19 years old when executed). Her gravestone states ‘May my example be a warning to thousands’- her reported last words as she stood on the gallows. Archaeologically, this seems to be all that remains of her execution, perhaps echoing how unimportant she was deemed in society. The last woman to be hanged in Britain was Ruth Ellis, who was executed in 1955. Like Lloyd, there was a large public outcry when Ellis was sentenced. She was a mother of two who had shot an abusive partner, David Blakely, thought to have induced a miscarriage shortly before the murder. Ellis had been to hospital multiple times for treatment of injuries inflicted by Blakely. Another woman by the name of Sarah Lloyd had murdered her elderly neighbour in 1955 by hitting her with a shovel and pouring boiling water on her- she had been sentenced to death but did not hang, even though no one petitioned for her. Ellis was not given the same treatment. As with the 1800 case of Sarah Lloyd, Ruth Ellis was not given any leniency because of her background – she was thought to provide sexual favours for men and liked to drink. Both hangings caused public outrage (though Ellis committed premeditated murder), even though they were over 150 years apart. Although Ellis does not fit with the 19th century timeline (her execution was carried out privately), her execution is a good example of how the public narrative was similar in much earlier cases towards certain accused.

Public execution: entertainment for the masses, or a warning to others?
Archaeological material associated with victims of public execution in 19th century Britain can be interpreted in several ways. The material, whether that was the body itself or newspaper clippings etc., show that the public reaction towards the gruesome spectacle was very much based on the crime committed and the person who committed them. Hangings weren’t all we assume they were- a crowd of the poor population shouting obscenities at the accused. As with the case of Sarah Lloyd, the public did not want her hanged, and often the educated, more wealthier classes would also attend the hangings. The input of mathematicians and medical doctors in developing the more humane long drop method in the second half of the 19th century also comments on the changing attitudes towards the accused. The suffered during and prior to the execution became a concern where it hadn’t before – perhaps due to outcries from the general public and medical community alike? The keeping of ‘mementos’ from the hanged (particularly in the case of Burke) also highlights the celebrity status that could accompany the criminals. The fascination we still have with these artefacts can only comment on our own fascination with these executions- but the important question to ask is do we view them as victims or simply as criminals?

Sources
http://vcp.e2bn.org/justice/page11359-types-of-punishment-hanging.html
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/31-32/24
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/victorians/crime/broadsides/hangings.html
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Burke-Hare-infamous-murderers-graverobbers/
https://museum.rcsed.ac.uk/the-collection/key-collections/key-object-page?objID=1225&page=2
https://www.ed.ac.uk/biomedical-sciences/anatomy/anatomical-museum/collection/people/burke
https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/mannings.html
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/a-broadside-on-the-execution-of-the-mannings
http://oldoperatingtheatre.com/blog/there-together-be-suspended
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/jjfvanve
https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200579/nm2chxqu
Moore, J., (2018) Murder by Numbers: Fascinating Figures Behind the Worlds Worst Crimes. The History Press: UK.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Art-of-Hanging/
https://www.naomiclifford.com/sarah-lloyd/
Ballinger, A., (2019) Dead Woman Walking: Executed Women in England and Wales, 1900-55. Routledge.
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/child.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/6314035695
http://www.rowdiva.com/Lloyd.html
http://www.britishexecutions.co.uk/execution-content.php?key=2265&termRef=Sarah%20Lloyd
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/lloyd.html
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/bbc-history-magazine/20180125/281651075515787
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/ruth-ellis-the-model-who-smiled-at-her-executioner-1.3690704
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/longdrop.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/ruth-ellis-last-woman-britain-12176921

The Archaeology of Victorian Grief: Looking at how the 19th Century mourned their dead and how it has shaped today’s practices.

Grief is a personal experience, but it can be largely influenced by societal norms, cultural background and it is very much a product of the era in which the death occurred. Grieving practices in one society can seem completely alien to another- I myself have experienced this in the UK when I discuss rural, Irish, Catholic death and grieving practices with friends and colleagues. It seems incomprehensible to many I spoke with that we would have our deceased loved one in our family home as part of the mourning associated with an Irish wake, just as it seems alien to me that their loved one would stay in the funeral home, often for weeks, before the funeral.
Even before I started training with an embalmer, I was always comfortable in seeing a dead body as the first time I saw one was when I was eight years old. It was my grandfather, and he was ‘waked’ traditionally at home. Since then, I have seen the deceased body of numerous loved ones- including both of my parents who died young, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Although the sadness at each of their wakes was profound, it should be said that these wakes assisted in the grieving process. With sadness, there also came laughing about good times, reminiscing and family bonding. Wakes weren’t all a bad experience, and I can totally understand why someone who isn’t used to such grieving practices would find that confusing. This is something we should bear in mind as I discuss Victorian grieving. What may seem odd and confusing by today’s standards, was probably a source of comfort for those who mourned in that era. To discuss Victorian death and grieving practices I have selected four archaeological items I feel best illustrate a narrative of the 19th century for the reader. It has been suggested that the almost obsessive nature of grieving in this period was partly fuelled by Queen Victoria and her mourning for her husband Prince Albert. Victorians became obsessed with the etiquette associated with mourning and would spend a great deal of money on giving their loved one a ‘good death’. Death was frequent in society, and there was always an open conversation about arrangements and practices (by today’s standards we would probably call this a ‘morbid fascination’)- some women even included their own shrouds to wear when they passed away in their wedding dowry. The intricacies of Victorian grief and mourning could be discussed for hours on end with hundreds of objects at our disposal, but below are the objects I have chosen for this blog post for a snapshot into Victorian grief.

Death Photography, often referred to as ‘Memento Mori’
Artefact: 19th Century image of a little girl with her deceased sister.

With the emergence of photography as an everyday practice in the 19th century, it is no wonder the emerging Victorian middle class adapted the practice in their grieving. Photography was a quicker and cheaper option than portrait painting, thanks to the introduction of daguerreotype images in the 1830s. The examples of the images of this type from the time are all posed and well-staged. Some of the images show the living loved ones slightly blurred from movement during exposure, whilst their deceased love one is shown with a crisper image. Children were particularly used as subjects, as the mortality rate was so high, with families often wanting to capture all their family before burial. Children often posed with their dead siblings, as we can see from the example seen below of two young sisters. This would seem an awful thing to ask of a child to do today, to pose with their dead sibling- but children of the time were well acquainted with death and grew up with it. BBC news wrote an article on the topic of Victorian death photography- calling it upsetting, but how are/ were these images upsetting? Are they upsetting us as we view death today? These images certainly didn’t upset the people who took them, on the contrary- they helped them mourn healthily by their own standards.

Mourning Jewellery, also referred to as ‘Memento Mori’
Artefact: Mourning onyx earrings with blond hair, c. 1860-70.

Mourning jewellery was particularly popular amongst Victorian women, with hair often used in ornaments such as lockets. However, within the first year of ‘deep mourning’, no ornaments were to be worn except for dark stones such as jet or onyx. Photographs as well as the hair of a loved one was often worn around the neck, something which many people still do today (myself included, I have a gold locket with an image of my mother and a small piece of her hair). These ornaments became a strong part of Victorian grieving traditions, and many examples can still be found in museums and antique stores. They are often collected by private collectors today, continuing the trend of ‘morbid fascination’. There are even examples of mourning jewellery made from glass eyes and teeth. Many also were inscribed with Latin inscriptions and images of skeletons.

Death Masks
Artefact: 19th Century death masks from University College London.

Death masks were plaster casts made of the deceased face upon their death. Many casts were made of loved ones for families to keep after their burial- however, many were taken of criminals and the executed, used for studies such as that of emerging phrenology at the time. Death masks were often displayed in the home, with Queen Victoria having had a bust made of Prince Albert that was displayed in many of the family photographs after his death. Instead of a photograph, death masks were more of a 3D remembrance of a loved one – the mask was usually cast very soon after death so that post-mortem bloating did not compromise accuracy. The cast was usually filled with wax or metal to create the finished likeness. A grease of some sort was applied to the face before plaster bandages were used to prevent facial hair from sticking to the mixture. The examples shown below are from University College London, whilst some of them are criminals some of them are loved ones requested to be set in plaster by their family – we even see an example of a child. The child is thought to be a young musical genius and was chosen for phrenology as to try and map his traits and personality.

Black Clothing
Artefact: Photograph of the five daughters of Prince Albert in mourning dress, 1861.

Today the practice of wearing black for funerals is still widespread in western grieving traditions- usually just at the funeral of a loved one. However, in the Victorian era, this was practiced in the first year after death but often extended to two- two and a half years after death. In the case of Queen Victoria, she wore black clothing in the forty years after her husband’s death until her own death in 1901- explaining why the tradition became stricter in the second half of the 19th century. Most photographs we see of the queen in the historical record show her dressed heavily in black and dark colours such as purple or grey. Women, especially widows, were expected to wear the heavy black dress and veil, also referred to as widow’s weeds. Those who couldn’t afford new mourning clothing usually dyed old garments black, with even jewellery and buttons strictly meant to be black as well. Usually the amount of black worn was lessened as time went on (the amount of time depended on the relationship with the deceased). However, in a time where death was so commonplace it was often that women spent years in black attire, as one mourning period ran into the next. The only exception to wearing black attire was when the death of a young girl occurred. Many people would wear white in the form of silk ribbons, hat bands or hoods to represent the purity of the deceased girl.
This was the only exception however, with black the most commonplace colour. Most mourning images of the time show ladies in black dress, many often have their faces concealed with a long black veil called a ‘weeping veil’. These veils were usually made of a silk fabric called crape, and often the dye could cause skin irritations and other health problems.

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria’s five daughters in mourning clothing

Have Victorian customs shaped our grieving today?
It is fair to say that the Victorians were comfortable with the prospect of their own death or the death of a loved one. Their regimented grieving practices show a society comfortable with losing loved ones, with daily lives focused around death and its inevitability. As emphasised in the archaeological material, Victorian society were strict in their grieving and were not afraid to show aspects of their bereavement. One can question how ‘healthy’ an approach this is, but it should be said that this illustrates a variety in the way society grieved that was deemed appropriate. Echoes of the era survive today in the way we say goodbye to loved ones. Black is still worn in Western Christian funerals, open coffins are common, as is types of mourning jewellery. What we deemed strange in past and a ‘morbid curiosity’ has in fact diluted down to our present- and remains the bones of how we grieve in society today.

Sources
https://www.ranker.com/list/victorian-mourning-customs/lisa-waugh
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/understanding-grief/201812/death-and-mourning-practices-in-the-victorian-age
http://www.angelpig.net/victorian/mourning.html
https://theconversation.com/memento-mori-remember-that-you-have-to-die-42823
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36389581
https://www.nationaljeweler.com/independents/2058-the-history-behind-victorian-mourning-jewelry
https://victorianmonsters.wordpress.com/victorian-funerary-practices/
https://io9.gizmodo.com/love-after-death-the-beautiful-macabre-world-of-mourn-1498829544
https://www.tchevalier.com/fallingangels/bckgrnd/mourning/
https://www.buzzfeed.com/hayleycampbell/death-masks-and-skull-amnesty
https://missmementomori.wordpress.com/tag/death-mask/
https://avintagevault.wordpress.com/tag/victorian-death-masks/
https://www.historicmysteries.com/death-masks/
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/death-masks/index.html
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/09/16/mourning-fashion/
http://www.katetattersall.com/mourning-dress-victorian/
https://www.racked.com/2018/3/29/17156818/19th-century-mourning-veil

The Archaeology of Epidemics: Disease, Death and Dying.

Amid the current Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to talk about death and disease in a manner that is sensitive yet pragmatic. A way to understand the development of public health is to look to the past through archaeological material. However, dismissing the current pandemic as being ‘not as bad as the past’, can be a problematic approach. Yes, the 14th century Black Death killed 200 million people, but that doesn’t lessen the severity of our current health climate. On the other hand, we cannot directly compare the two, as to do so only creates an atmosphere of mass panic and hysteria. Comparing Covid-19 to a pandemic in a time of poor sanitation with little known effective medicines is dangerous and irresponsible. Both approaches have their dangers- so what should we do?

We should approach historical and archaeological material with both approaches in mind as to make sensible observations. For example, the British Society for the History of Medicine (BSHM) recently posted an article entitled ‘Can history help us in the Covid-19 epidemic?’ asking whether global health management of today can learn anything by examining the handling of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Whilst comparisons are made between both pandemics (i.e. lack of vaccine, slow implementation of social distancing), it is clear that the research of mortality rates of Spanish Flu were done to encourage quick intervention, not as a way to create panic amongst the general public. Epidemiologists are approached more and more on contributing to global health management, a responsibility with a lot of strings attached.

This post will look at four examples of archaeological material from four different pandemics/ epidemics (most were originally epidemics that became pandemics) with the hope of encouraging discussion on disease mortality without directly comparing them with Covid-19. Discussion of current public health concerns through observing archaeological material is important but should be done with an objective mind in assessing how relevant they are today.

Bubonic Plague- ‘The Black Death’ (1346-53)
Death toll: 50 million worldwide
Mass burial ‘Plague Pit’, East Smithfield, London (1348).
Everyone has heard of the ‘Black Death’, the catastrophic tragedy that killed 60% of Europe’s population. The bubonic plague outbreak was linked to the bacterium Yersinia pestis (though recently this has been challenged) that spread through wild rodents. With rat infestation such a problem in the past its no wonder the disease spread with such ferocity. Once fleas killed off the rat colonies they would turn to humans as new hosts. Bubo sites would often form in groin, thigh, armpit or neck (Lymph node sites) and the bacteria could spread through the blood stream to the lungs causing cases of pneumonic plague. This was only in a small number of plague cases, but the bubonic infection would kill 80% of victims. Often symptoms would only develop 5 days after infection, and another 3-5 days after the victim would die.
In 1986 archaeologists discovered a large cemetery near the Tower of London in East Smithfield. The burial ground was confirmed to be an emergency cemetery to cope with the rising death toll, and over 24,000 people are thought to be buried at the site. Plague pits were all over Europe to dispose of victims of bubonic plague. These mass, anonymous graves can be viewed as pragmatic response to death- but what were the effects on the bereaved? Although the outbreak occurred at a time when mortality rate was high anyway, one cannot help but ponder how the population felt about their loved one buried or ‘stacked’ without the pomp associated with religious rites. The use of mass graves has been linked to infectious disease as a way to stop the spread of an epidemic- in this case however it was likely to confine the ‘smell’ which was more associated with sickness then the disease itself (i.e. Miasma Theory). Some probably went into the pits without identification, another worry for families in a time of desperation.

Bubonic Plague (last wave in Britain)- ‘The Great Plague’ of London (1665-1666)
Death Toll: 100,000 in London
17th Century plague doctor mask
The plague outbreak of 1665, was the worst outbreak of the disease since it’s 14th century outbreak. It was the summer months that caused the outbreak to swell, with many of the wealthier classes fleeing the city. Much of the poor had to stay in London to prevent the spread of infection to other parts of England – all trade was halted from the city and Scotland even closed its border with England. Infected houses were watched over and the dead were searched for at night and buried in plague pits in the same manner as the 14th century outbreak. This era of the epidemic resulted in the further rise of plague doctors. Perhaps the most iconic image of this era is the plague doctor mask. This beak-like mask was used to protect the wearer against bad smells and prevent contagion, with a wooden cane used to probe victims to stop themselves touching the infected buboes. The nose of the masks was filled with substances such as cloves, rose petals and other pleasant-smelling herbs. Charles de L’Orne is credited with creating the iconic costume in 1619, it was usually made from goat leather. Although we still see the association with disease and miasma theory, it is clear the population were becoming more conscious of the isolation of the infected. Plague doctors also carried out autopsies on the dead and listed deaths on the public register. Treatment often included blood letting and the use of leeches.

16th century German example of the ‘plague mask’

Broad Street Cholera Outbreak, London (1854)
Death Toll: 500 in 10 days on Broad Street, London
The Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) Pump
There were numerous outbreaks of cholera in London in the 19th century. The worst outbreak killed almost 15,000 people in 1849. Whilst cholera was a worldwide pandemic, the Broad Street outbreak is significant as we look at the investigatory work of Dr John Snow. Cholera effects the intestines and can cause death at quite a rapid pace, the first symptoms are vomiting and diarrhoea. According to the World Health Organisation, cholera still kills 100,000 people annually.
Miasma theory (Illness from bad air/smells) was still a prevalent theory surrounding disease outbreaks, until Snow was able to prove that this epidemic was a result of contaminated water. Snow studied the patterns of death and plotted their locations on a map, allowing him to conclude that water was the source of the outbreak. The Broad Street pump was very close to a cesspool and Snow removed the handle from the pump himself after community officials ignored his pleas to intervene. Although the original pump is no longer at the site, a replica one was placed there in the summer of 2018.

Replica of the Broad Street pump- based on original archaeological example

Influenza Pandemic (‘Spanish Flu’), H1N1 (1918)
Death Toll: 50 million worldwide
Spanish flu face masks
Perhaps one of the deadliest pandemics of recent history, Spanish flu spread between 1918 and 1920. It is estimated that half a billion people were infected with the virus – this was about one third of the world’s population at the time. The mix of urbanisation without any known vaccine or antibiotics to prevent secondary infection, meant the virus was particularly lethal. There was quite a high mortality rate amongst the younger population, with those between the ages of 20 and 40 considered one of the most vulnerable groups, as well as those under the age of 5 and over the age of 65.
Health initiatives of the time became strict and limiting, with quarantining and social isolation becoming the norm. Images of the time are striking in their similarities to modern populations, as face masks become more of a fashion statement than sanitary necessity. Face masks worn by women of the time could stretch down like a veil – echoing the ‘trendy’ masks we see now. Hand washing and personal hygiene also became the prime advice given by health professionals. Perhaps it is the similarities in societal anxieties and healthcare advice that allows us to make links with outbreaks of the past, not similarities in the nature of the disease itself.

Sources
Antoine D. (2008). The archaeology of “plague”. Medical history. Supplement, (27), 101–114.https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/505090/doctors-didnt-actually-wear-beaked-masks-during-black-plague https://allthatsinteresting.com/plague-doctors
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/
https://plaguedoctormasks.com/history/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/broad-street-cholera-pump
https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowcricketarticle.html
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cholera
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-04/spanish-flu-pandemic-provides-insights-into-coronavirus/12020570
https://wellcomecollection.org/works?query=%22Plague%20doctor%2013
https://9gag.com/gag/an9EwAB/real-16th-century-plague-doctor-mask-supposedly-back-then-it-was-thought-that-the-plague-was-more-or-less-caused-by-bad-smell-and-the-beak-was-for-storing-things-that-emitted-a-pleasant-aroma
https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/medieval-renaissance/why-did-doctors-during-the-black-death-wear-beak-masks/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12393-black-death-casts-a-genetic-shadow-over-england/
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/black-death-greatest-catastrophe-ever
https://bshm.org.uk/can-history-help-us-in-the-covid-19-epidemic/
https://designyoutrust.com/2020/02/an-authentic-16th-century-plague-doctor-mask-preserved-and-on-display-at-the-german-museum-of-medical-history/

Plastination: Life (and Death) in Plastic, it’s Fantastic?

The body preservation method of plastination has rose to prominence in recent years with the touring of the Body Worlds exhibition. Despite all the controversy surrounding the exhibit, i.e. the ethics of cadaver display, the origins of the cadavers and the famous ‘sex plastinate’, one cannot deny the impressive development of the method. Plastination was created and has been pioneered for years by the German anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens. The method was invented by the anatomist in 1977. Von Hagens was working as a scientific assistant and was trying to improve the quality of the renal specimens he was working with in his lab. It was this experimentation that resulted in the process known as plastination. The method involves replacing water and lipids with curable polymers (i.e. silicone, epoxy, polyester), these substances will harden, and the result leaves an odourless, durable specimen. Plastination is becoming more prominent in areas of teaching, their long-term survival is appealing to Anatomy departments but there are issues with the rigidity of the specimens. Sometimes this prevents demonstrations of joint movement to students and prevents in depth dissection of hidden features.

Despite some limitations, plastination is an excellent method for displaying cadavers. The Body Worlds website outlines four steps in the plastination process. These include:

Fixation using formaldehyde (takes 4 hours) and dissection of skin, fatty and connective tissues (takes 500-1000 hours).
Removal of water and body fat using an acetone bath at freezing temperatures.
Forced impregnation of liquid polymers after acetone has evaporated from the cells (takes 2- 5 weeks).
Positioning of the body when it still has some flexibility (can take weeks to perfect).
Hardening of the specimen is done using gas, light or heat.

The whole process takes up to 1,500 hours or up to one year of work to complete. The technique is highly specialised and time consuming. Despite these limitations, there are over 400 labs in 40 countries all over the world using plastination to preserve donated cadavers for academic study. Here are some of the most prominent, controversial examples from the Body Worlds exhibition.

The Sex Couple

The most controversial of the Body Worlds exhibits shows two plastinated cadavers having sex. Von Hagens has stressed the exhibit is to enlighten the public on the means of reproduction, and he even wrote an open letter to the British public about the ‘Sex Couple’. What the public questioned most was how informed the consent was of the couple that donated their bodies? Did the couple and their families know the cadavers would be put in this position? Should it matter as it is an educational display? These were the questions raised when the ‘Circle of Life’ part of the show opened.

The Foetus Displays and Pregnant Women

Miscarried foetuses and a pregnant woman were displayed as part of the exhibit. Numerous foetuses at different stages of gestation were shown to the public, with a trigger warning sign before entering that area of the show. There were many sensationalised headlines, including one from The Telegraph stating that ‘Flayed babies’ were on display. The use of the unborn obviously contributed to our understanding of foetal development- but given the pro-choice/ pro-life abortion debate it is obvious that consent and ethics became an issue surrounding this aspect of the show.

The Horse and Rider

The display of a rearing horse and rider stands 12 ft tall. The display was debuted in New York’s Times Square in 2013. What may have been the most controversial for the public in this case was the use of an animal as a plastinate (again, we see the issue of consent).

Regardless of the controversies surrounding the Body Worlds exhibit (as well as Von Hagens Himself), the method of plastination has the potential to preserve cadavers for educational use at academic institutions all over the world. Their preservation has the potential to last for years, and the Body Worlds show has reached millions of eager learners amongst the general public in the years since its launch. Are these specimens a money-making scheme? Or an excellent source for anatomy education?

Sources

https://www.thedailybeast.com/you-can-see-dead-people-having-sex-for-less-than-dollar20-but-should-you

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/body-worlds-exhibition_uk_5bb74288e4b01470d0509814?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHAgdy6SbL2HA10dRDyD0eNeXhudvyhRUpkEmeiW9Kt_Qn6gH-oLuEgt-6GtyN-lUeX2lx6fWdc9HQLTXhtJlR38v7BBg0huL_aO5tLuGUh3Mwzll0DQhc29UaV2Api8QqN66pfvBCfo8vtsV6xiX18qdo8IdL4oaM0tS7kgydA-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3249044/Flayed-babies-bodies-included-in-new-Body-World-exhibition.html

https://www.blogto.com/arts/2009/10/body_worlds_returns_to_toronto_this_time_with_more_heart/

Pashaei, S., 2010. A brief review on the history, methods and applications of plastination. Int J Morphol, 28(4), pp.1075-79.

Riederer, B.M., 2014. Plastination and its importance in teaching anatomy. Critical points for long‐term preservation of human tissue. Journal of anatomy, 224(3), pp.309-315.

Van Dijck, J., 2001. Bodyworlds: the art of plastinated cadavers. Configurations, 9(1), pp.99-126.

From Archaeology to Autopsy: Five Fantastic Books about Death.

For those interested in all thing’s death related and want to explore the topic further, whether that be funerary archaeology or modern dissection techniques, it can be hard to know which books to start with. The complexity of death as viewed by modern society and the intricacies associated with the treatment of the dead in the past have been a hot topic of many authors, with some focusing on one aspect more than another depending on their professional background and interests. Death is a vast topic with so many branches in different academic fields, and it is difficult to locate a ‘one size fits all’ narrative. So, I have selected five books that discuss numerous death related topics- from cadaver related research to osteology- all these books have something for everyone and are excellently written.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty.
Caitlin Doughty is quite well known in the funeral industry. Born in Hawaii, Doughty started her career in the death industry as a crematory assistant at Westwind Cremation in San Francisco before attending mortuary school. Her first book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (later she wrote From Here to Eternity which is worth a read if you are interested in world cultures and death) documents her personal encounters with death in a manner that is humorous as well as professional. The book focuses mainly on her time spent at Westwind and her early interactions with corpses and grieving families. Heart-breaking and heart-warming, Doughty tells tales about her time spent processing cremated remains, assisting the embalmer, picking up corpses and her general duties surrounding her handling of the dead. She is a huge advocate for ‘death positive’ attitudes having set up the organisation The Order of the Good Death which promotes natural burial and tries to decrease the real anxieties we all have about dying. She encourages her readers to talk about death openly with their loved ones to eliminate fear surrounding the subject. This is a must read for anyone interested in the funeral industry of today and what the job entails at crematoriums and funeral homes alike.

Past Mortems: Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors by Carla Valentine.
Carla Valentine is the current technical curator of the St Bart’s pathology museum in London and has worked for years as an anatomical pathology technologist. She also studied Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology, having taken part in plague grave excavations and WW1 grave excavations. Valentine has the best of both worlds, with an interest in both pathology and specimens of the past. Her book, Past Mortems, is great for those interested in modern anatomy and autopsies. Valentine discusses decomposition, dissection and death in detail in a way that is both personal and factual. Like Doughty, Valentine encourages discussions about death and encourages positive attitudes when talking about mortality. Her compassion for the bereaved is also evident, particularly when she discusses helping identify the victims of the 2005 London bombings. This book is a must read for those with a fascination for pathology and mortuary practice.

All That Remains: A Life in Death by Dame Professor Sue Black.
For those interested in the field of forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology, the name, Sue Black, will be particularly well known. Sue Black was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee between 2005 and 2018, where she was head of the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee (CAHID). Prof Black has also assisted police in criminal investigations and has authored/ co- authored numerous academic publications, as well as starred on BBC Two’s History Cold Case. All That Remains allows Black to discuss her remarkable career as a forensic anthropologist. She talks about human remains from numerous contexts, including archaeological burials, crimes, war zones and labs. Pairing these accounts with her personal encounters with death growing up in a strict, Scottish, Presbyterian family, Prof Black manages to fully engage with the reader and allow them to learn something from beginning to end. This book should be required reading for those studying forensic anthropology or other similar fields.

The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford.
Funeral industry fanatics will have heard of Jessica Mitford. Born into an aristocratic English family, Mitford’s political ideologies were extreme in comparison to her upbringing. She placed herself firmly in the far-left wing of politics and joined the American Communist Party with her second husband, whom she also worked closely with as a civil rights activist. Having joined the Communist Party during the era of McCarthyism, Mitford was a woman who was not afraid to speak her mind. Her book The American Way of Death is a social commentary on the American funeral home industry. Now a Classic, the book researched the commercialised aspect of death in 1960’s America and the expense of sentimentality for grieving American families. Mitford strongly criticised the industry and accuses funeral directors of taking advantage of families at difficult times in their lives, with added expenses for funerals seen as unnecessary and extortionate. Even the updated version from the late 1990’s still seems shocking and critical today. This book is a classic on social attitudes towards death and funerals and is well worth a read whether you agree with Mitford’s criticisms or not.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers by Mary Roach.
Mary Roach did a fantastic Ted Talk a few years back entitled 10 things you didn’t know about orgasm. It’s clear from this talk that Roach has a fantastic, humorous way of storytelling. Her first book Stiff dates to 2003 but still seems relevant today. The book discusses Roach’s encounters with cadavers and a history of how cadavers have contributed to scientific research. The topics of the book range from body snatching, to body farms, to crash test cadavers. All together she has published seven books, but Stiff is the book for those with an interest in anatomy, forensics and death history. Stiff also discusses the ethical issues raised in using cadavers for experimentation, with Roach questioning whether family members truly understand what their loved one has left their remains. Like the other authors in this list, Roach still manages to find a healthy balance of humour, science and compassion in her writing style.