A multidisciplinary team of researchers, including forensic anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, announced this week that they believe they have found the skeletal remains of Miguel de Cervantes and his wife, Catalina de Salazar. Born in Alcala de Henares, Spain on September 29,… Read More ›
News
Forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, and forensic science in the news.
The race to save the decaying Chinchorro mummies
The doll-like mummies of the Chinchurro culture are the oldest mummies in the world but have started to decompose at an alarming rate in the last ten years. Museum officials at the University of Tarapacá’s San Miguel de Azapa Museum… Read More ›
This Buddhist statue holds a macabre secret
Last year the Drents Museum in the Netherlands displayed a large Buddhist statue as part of their “Mummies: Life Beyond Death” exhibit. This was the first time that this statue had been presented outside of China. Why was a statue… Read More ›
The skull of a medieval martyr used to make medicinal powders
In the Cathedral of Otranto are five large display cases that contain the bones of the “martyrs of Otranto.” The skulls face the cathedral’s visitors and are mixed with long bones and bones of the pelvis. In one of the… Read More ›
The extreme ritual of self-mummification practiced by Buddhist monks
On Tuesday, Mongolia’s Morning News reported that the mummified remains of a Buddhist monk were discovered in the country’s Songinokhairkhan province. The body was found seated in the lotus position wrapped in an animal skin. After an initial examination, experts… Read More ›
DNA tests solve 40-year-old Oklahoma mystery
On Thursday, officials confirmed that two separate missing persons cases were solved when DNA results positively identified two groups of remains found in two submerged cars in Sayre, OK. In September of 2013 police found the bodies of six people,… Read More ›
An empty coffin in Philadelphia creates more questions about notorious Florida reform school [UPDATE]
On Tuesday October 7th a research team from the University of South Florida (USF) exhumed a grave in Philadelphia belonging to Thomas Curry, a boy who died under “suspicious circumstances” in 1925. This excavation was related to the continuing investigation… Read More ›
USF Anthropology Team Identifies 2 More Sets of Human Remains From Infamous Reform School [Update]
The anthropology team from the University of South Florida (USF) has positively identified two more sets of remains exhumed from graves on the property once belonging to the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys: 13-year-old Thomas Varnadoe and 12-year-old Earl… Read More ›
A legal leg to stand on: One man’s fight to turn his amputated leg into a working lamp
When Leo Bonten, a 53-year-old Dutch man, needed to have his right leg amputated earlier this year because the broken limb became infected, he was inspired to turn his amputated leg into a floor lamp. But this bit of morbid… Read More ›
Sweet Jesus: This 18th century statue has a morbid secret
The ‘Lord of Patience’ is a gruesome 3’8″ tall statue that depicts a seated Jesus covered in blood and open wounds, and is costumed in a wig and clothes. This wooden 18th century figure is displayed at a church in San Bartolo Cuautlalpan, Mexico,… Read More ›
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