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  • © 2017

The Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy in the United States

Editors:

  1. Kenneth C. Nystrom

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

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  • Discusses research that examines the skeletal evidence of dissection and autopsy and how it can be used to inform on a number of themes including the construction of social identity during the 17th – early 20th centuries in the United States

  • Provides a diachronic perspective on the development of postmortem procedures and the connection to European practices

  • Includes a discussion of 20th century medical education, anatomy laws, and the role of the body in these

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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

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Softcover Book USD 199.99
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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
    PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Kenneth C. Nystrom
    Pages 1-22

  3. Evidence from Early Colonial America

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23
      PDF

    3. Evidence for Early Seventeenth-Century Surgery and Dissection at James Fort, Virginia

      • Karin S. Bruwelheide, Douglas W. Owsley, Beverly A. Straube, Jamie E. May
      Pages 41-60

  4. Evidence from Public Cemeteries

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-85
      PDF

  5. Evidence from Medical Institutions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113
      PDF

    2. Teachings of the Dead: The Archaeology of Anatomized Remains from Holden Chapel, Harvard University

      • Christina J. Hodge, Jane Lyden Rousseau, Michèle E. Morgan
      Pages 115-142

    3. Skeletal Evidence of Anatomical and Surgical Training in Nineteenth-Century Richmond

      • Douglas W. Owsley, Karin S. Bruwelheide, Richard L. Jantz, Jodi L. Koste, Merry Outlaw
      Pages 143-164

    5. Dissection and Documented Skeletal Collections: Embodiments of Legalized Inequality

      • Jennifer L. Muller, Kristen E. Pearlstein, Carlina de la Cova
      Pages 185-201

  6. Evidence from Almshouse Cemeteries

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 203-203
      PDF

    3. “You Couldn’t Identify Your Grandmother If She Were in that Party”: The Bioarchaeology of Postmortem Investigation at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery

      • Patricia B. Richards, Catherine R. Jones, Emily Mueller Epstein, Nicholas W. Richards, Brooke L. Drew, Thomas J. Zych
      Pages 237-257

    5. Structural Inequality and Postmortem Examination at the Erie County Poorhouse

      • Kenneth C. Nystrom, Joyce Sirianni, Rosanne Higgins, Douglas Perrelli, Jennifer L. Liber Raines
      Pages 279-300

    6. Exploring Evidence of Nineteenth Century Dissection in the Dunning Poorhouse Cemetery

      • Anne L. Grauer, Vanessa Lathrop, Taylor Timoteo
      Pages 301-313
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About this book

Encountering evidence of postmortem examinations - dissection or autopsy in historic skeletal collections is relatively rare, but recently there has been an increase in the number of reported instances. And much of what has been evaluated has been largely descriptive and historical. The Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy brings together in a single volume the skeletal evidence of postmortem examination in the United States. Ranging from the early colonial period to the early 1900’s, from a coffeehouse at Colonial Williamsburg to a Quaker burial vault in lower Manhattan, the contributions to this volume demonstrate the interpretive significance of a historically and theoretically contextualized bioarchaeology. The authors employ a wide range of perspectives, demonstrating how bioarchaeological evidence can be used to address a wide range of themes including social identity and marginalization, racialization, the nature of the body and fragmentation, and the emergence of medical practice and authority in the United States.​
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Keywords

  • Early evidence of dissection and autopsy
  • Evidence from medical institutions and Almshouse cemeteries
  • History of postmortem examinations in the United States
  • Medical education and the utilization of cadavers
  • Postmortem examinations and social identity
  • Skeletal evidence of dissection and autopsy
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Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, USA

    Kenneth C. Nystrom

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About the editor

Kenneth Nystrom is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at New Paltz, USA.  He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota-Duluth (1997), and his M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2005) from the University of New Mexico. He would characterize himself as a broadly trained bioarchaeologist. His early research focused on the Chachapoya of northern Perú where he investigated a range of topics including the reconstruction of mortuary behavior based on paleoentomology, trepanation and trauma, and the impact of Inca conquest on site-specific and regional-level genetic homogeneity using craniometrics. He has also conducted research on long bone cross-sectional geometry in Early Classic elites from Copan, Honduras and post-marital residence patterns among the Chiribaya of southern Perú utilizing craniometrics. His current focus is on African American and almshouse cemeteries from the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States. He grounds his research in the understanding that the biological and social world in which we live is incorporated into and onto our bodies. From this perspective he has examined dental health, trauma, and sex-specific post-manumission migration using strontium isotopes in a historic African American cemetery from New York. Additionally, he considered how the postmortem examination of a young woman from this cemetery can inform on our understanding of how social identity of African Americans was constructed during the 19th century. He is currently analyzing evidence of dissection and surgical experimentation from the Erie County Poorhouse from this same perspective.

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Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy in the United States

  • Editors: Kenneth C. Nystrom

  • Series Title: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory

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

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-26834-7Published: 19 August 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-80023-3Published: 09 June 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-26836-1Published: 13 August 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2567-6776

  • Series E-ISSN: 2567-6814

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIX, 346

  • Number of Illustrations: 33 b/w illustrations, 66 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Archaeology, Anthropology

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Access via your institution

Buy it now

eBook USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

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