Abstract
Curated osteological collections have been used to develop methodologies and theories associated with the interpretation of skeletal remains. The George S. Huntington Anatomical Collection, the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection, the Hamann–Todd Osteological Collection and the W. Montague Cobb Human Skeletal Collection represent the most well-known and frequently used skeletal teaching collections in the USA. The use of these skeletal collections in education and research has advanced many fields related to anatomy and anthropology. However, the socially sanctioned use of unclaimed cadavers in their development has resulted in the overrepresentation of the most impoverished segments of society. A thorough understanding of the circumstances under which these human remains were acquired poses unique questions and opportunities for researchers. Knowledge of the structural violence that has led to the inclusion of particular individuals within the collections requires current anthropologists to critically reflect upon the power dynamics and impacts of their research.
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Acknowledgements
A special thanks to Kenneth Nystrom for the invitation to participate in this volume. We also wish to extend our gratitude to the collections’ curators, under whom we have studied, for granting permissions and providing support and mentorship: David Hunt, Physical Anthropology Collections Manager, National Museum of Natural History; Lyman Jellema, Physical Anthropology Collections Manager, Cleveland Museum of Natural History; and Mark E. Mack (d. 2012), curator of the W. Montague Cobb Human Skeletal Collection (2001–2012), Howard University. We thank the following institutions: the Department of Sociology, Howard University; Indiana University; the University of North Carolina Greensboro; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; the University of South Carolina; and the University at Buffalo. Research on the Huntington Collection was supported in part by the Wenner-Gren Foundation. We also wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable comments.
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Muller, J.L., Pearlstein, K.E., de la Cova, C. (2017). Dissection and Documented Skeletal Collections: Embodiments of Legalized Inequality. 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_9
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