Criminals are stealing skulls and other human remains from graves to supply the largely unregulated online market for human remains, a Live Science investigation has found.
Biers coordinates a task force at the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology that investigates and does public outreach regarding the sale and trade of human remains and the objectification and commodification of the dead. "When I open a coffin, that's what I normally would see," Adserias-Garriga told Live Science. The back of one skull had a mark with a patch of hair missing. Adserias-Garriga noted that this is a common feature of cemeterial remains, in which the back of the skull makes contact with the coffin.
For this new investigation, Live Science spoke to a seller that highlighted the problem of grave robbing and looting in the U.K. trade. Mattaeus Ball, an online seller based in Reading, said he now deals only in ex-medical specimens, but told Live Science that he became aware of the trade in looted remains soon after he began selling 15 years ago.
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