Scotland-a magical place
part.3
Anatomy, corpses, and body snatchers
University of Edinburgh
In the early 19th century, several anatomy teachers like Alexander Monro and Robert Knox, brought a great contribution to this field. Their research made Edinburgh one of the leading centres in Europe of anatomical study. But, and there is a but, anatomy required a very important resource: corpses. Back in the 1800's Scotland there was a scarcity of cadavres because the law allowed only corpses of the convicts who died in prison, suicide victims and orphans to be dissected. As a result, a new ''profession'' began to be very popular popular: body snatching.
Body snatchers or should I say ''men at work''?
Grave robbery was criminal offence in Scotland, but stealing a corpse from its own tomb was not because the corpse belonged to nobody. With that being said, a black market of cadavres emerged and flourished over the next years. Many anatomists relied on this bands to supply them with fresh corpses for their academic research. In order to mitigate the issue, people started to secure the graves of their passed loved ones.
A watchtower in a cemetery
A mortcage built over the grave
These 2 images present the main techniques to deter grave robbers and trust me, I was in 3 different historical cemeteries in Edinburgh. The majority of the tombs had this kind of cages so you can image how big of a social issue this was. Well, with that being said, this is the end of this blog. The next one will be the final of my trip to Edinburgh. I hoped you like it, and I will see you next time.
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