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A Dissection at the Coffeehouse? The Performance of Anatomical Expertise in Colonial America

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The Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy in the United States

Part of the book series: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory ((BST))

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Abstract

Before 1765, colonial America had no formal medical schools and American physicians were educated in Europe. However, human remains recovered from Richard Charlton’s Coffeehouse in Williamsburg, Virginia provide archaeological evidence for dissection associated with medical instruction and practice during the 1760s. This chapter explores the significance of this dissection performance to Williamsburg’s medical economy and education, and compares this dissection performance with the public displays common in European and later American contexts.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ken Nystrom for organizing this volume and Jamie May for providing an early conference paper describing the Jamestown remains. Funding for this research was provided by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Curatorial Internship in the Department of Archaeological Research at Colonial Williamsburg . We are also very grateful for the assistance and support of the Colonial Williamsburg staff, particularly Joanne Bowen and Kelly Ladd-Kostro. Finally, this piece has been greatly improved by the contributions of two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, College of William & Mary, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA, 23187-8795, USA

    Ellen Chapman

  2. Department of Architectural and Archaeological Research, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, P.O. Box 1776, Williamsburg, VA, 23187-1776, USA

    Mark Kostro

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  1. Ellen Chapman
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Correspondence to Ellen Chapman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, USA

    Kenneth C. Nystrom

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Chapman, E., Kostro, M. (2017). A Dissection at the Coffeehouse? The Performance of Anatomical Expertise in Colonial America. In: Nystrom, K. (eds) The Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy in the United States. Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26836-1_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26836-1_4

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