Grave Robbing Through Time
Grave robbing is a creepy concept. Thoughts of Frankenstein and mummies fill the minds of the superstitious, while germs and bacteria consume a realist’s thoughts. While it may be a rather unpleasant concept, in actuality it is a profitable career. Early grave robbers made quite a lot of money from their thievery, though perhaps the psychological damage outweighs the monetary gain.
Grave robbing has quite a rich history. In China, grave robbing was primarily done for monetary gain. "Grave robber" was actually an official job description. Chinese tombs were especially well furnished with expensive items like gold rings and diamond bracelets, much like Egyptian tombs, and provided quite a bit of valuable artefacts to the sacrilegious “archaeologist”.
Grave robbing continued for quite a while, and then its motivation was transformed during the renaissance. Because it was an age of reason and science, many individuals had wonderful ideas about human anatomy, but no way of knowing for sure whether they were correct in their assumptions, or if they were completely off in their theories. In order to remedy this, grave robbing began occurring for biological purposes rather than economical reasons.
There were numerous reports of grave robbing going on through the 1700s. Then, in the 19th century, there was a sudden increase in grave robbing. Medical students began to grow in number. The law allowed medical training facilities to use cadavers, but only from recently executed criminals. The demand for bodies soon exceeded the amount of deceased felons, so a sort of black market ensued to sell these bodies to authorized middle men who would then sell the bodies to medical facilities.
Modern day grave robbers are still at large for many of the same reasons as back then. The booming market for authentic organs and tissues has caused many unethical individuals to rob graves. These people will dig up bodies, harvest what material they can, sell them to middle-man agencies to be resold to medical facilities, and are paid quite well for them. There are even reports of some funeral agencies that have made deals to sell deceased body parts to these kinds of individuals. While this is a grotesque idea, it certainly can be profitable.
Grave robbing has quite a rich history. In China, grave robbing was primarily done for monetary gain. "Grave robber" was actually an official job description. Chinese tombs were especially well furnished with expensive items like gold rings and diamond bracelets, much like Egyptian tombs, and provided quite a bit of valuable artefacts to the sacrilegious “archaeologist”.
Grave robbing continued for quite a while, and then its motivation was transformed during the renaissance. Because it was an age of reason and science, many individuals had wonderful ideas about human anatomy, but no way of knowing for sure whether they were correct in their assumptions, or if they were completely off in their theories. In order to remedy this, grave robbing began occurring for biological purposes rather than economical reasons.
There were numerous reports of grave robbing going on through the 1700s. Then, in the 19th century, there was a sudden increase in grave robbing. Medical students began to grow in number. The law allowed medical training facilities to use cadavers, but only from recently executed criminals. The demand for bodies soon exceeded the amount of deceased felons, so a sort of black market ensued to sell these bodies to authorized middle men who would then sell the bodies to medical facilities.
Modern day grave robbers are still at large for many of the same reasons as back then. The booming market for authentic organs and tissues has caused many unethical individuals to rob graves. These people will dig up bodies, harvest what material they can, sell them to middle-man agencies to be resold to medical facilities, and are paid quite well for them. There are even reports of some funeral agencies that have made deals to sell deceased body parts to these kinds of individuals. While this is a grotesque idea, it certainly can be profitable.