Grave Robbing

Something I have been wondering about... just at what point does grave robbing turn to archeology?

You can't go dig up a body of someone that died last year, but if it was 1000 years ago, you not only can do it, but you can make documentaries about it... why is that?

 

Dr. Temperence Brennan you have a call on line one..

 

lol, I had to look it up to know who that was... I thought Bones was a guy...lol

 

I don't know that you "can't" dig up someone who died a year ago...


I just don't think that many people would watch a 1 hour special about digging up my dead grandpa.

 

I totally see your point and agree with you.... it is weird.

I would be pissed if I was Native American for instance and people were always trying to dig up my relatives and put them on display.

 

The people with the money make the rules and draw the lines and they say it isn't grave desecration if its in the name of knowledge.

 

I think the main difference is if a person has permission or not. Without permission (from whatever authorities that be) for digging up a body, whether it be from last year or a thousand years ago, it would be basically be grave robbing. According to wiki, digging up stuff usually has to be a few decades old for it to be archaeology.

 

I think it changes when you can either make a film, get funded or make money.

 

a couple = 2
decade = 10 years

less than 4 years till we can dig up Kurt Cobain again...

 

They should totally put that in a Bones episode.

 

Yeah, but sometimes the 'authorities' really aren't the ones that should have the final say so... I have heard of lots of tribes or whoever, being really upset that their relatives got dug up and none of them agreed to it. The government just didn't give a fuck about their feelings.

 

I have not read the other replies yet but the first thought that popped into my head was that I think of archeology as a field of study where they are trying to find out about the past, etc and use it for future research, etc whereas in grave robbery they just want that fat ass diamond off the corpses ring finger for their own personal greedy needs.

Not saying there are not archeologists looking to make a mint off their work...but from those I have met (used to attend local meetings for amateur archeologists with my Oma's lover) they are pretty well educated and even if they do want money they want knowledge as well I suppose. eh

 

when it has historical value.

 

Sort of off topic (or totally off topic) but I am studying HooDoo and many practitioners use graveyard dirt in some of their work. They "buy" the dirt off chosen graves with whiskey, coins, etc and depending on who you ask part of their payment involves paying the spirit of the grave to help with your work. It's an interesting concept. When I first heard of people using graveyard dirt for their craft it seemed like stealing in a way but when I found you have to "pay" for it my perception of the idea changed quite a bit.

Just had to throw that randomness in there. :]

 

Oooh, can we stuff Courtney in it in his place? Let her trade one hole for another?

 

oh yeah, like when digging up a basement and finding bones, Could be dog bones. But even if they are dog bones, you have to immediately report it and leave the scene alone. It should be secure by law enforcement to see if a crime was committed..
Once the scene is uncovered by unprofessional record keepers, its now a contaminated scene and may take more work to get correct clues linking to suspects other than the digger. Did the digger stumble on site or return to site after years gone by?..
Same would be in a legit cemetery, was there foul play in death, is the person uncovering the boby attempting to destroy evidence.. ?

 

I thought this thread would be like some sort of spin on craddle robbing, but instead grave robbing like...people who get off fucking dead people.


ON A LIGHTER NOTE:

We do it to have a glimpse at the past. Egyptians were really on to something back then, there are still alot of mysteries surrounding their culture. I'll get into that if you want and explain. If I was to die, for example. Not everyone would know EVERYTHING about me that ive done but I mean, where I went to school, where I worked, who I dated. etc would be known, and for the majority of us all this information is now filed. Back then, we have no idea wtf they were doing, we can only dig up the sorry bastards and read there etchings on stone walls and attempt to understand what they were thinking. The pyramids were alligned perfectly with 3 stars!!!! HOW???? back then??? The pyramids that should have taken WAYYY fucking longer to build were built WAYYYY sooner. So we're just trying to understand.

Then again I totally agree with you, you dig up one dead mummy you dig up them all. What's the point...........Unllllesssssssssss, there is a possiblity of uncovering something more. So we dig.

 

Good point there Tom. When I saw Tutankhamen and his 'treasures' I was amazed at how skilled people were back then, but also quite sad that they had pulled him out of his tomb and separated him from the belongings which clearly ere of great importance to both him and the Ancient Egyptians. And, all so we can have someone to look at.

It's a hard one, it's great to know about how things were centuries ago, but I guess when you dig up graves and take bodies it is still grave robbing.

However, I don't think it would be as necessary in thousands of years to dig us up. There are so many others forms of evidence and information for people to see and get all the information they need.

 

Also, I don't really see much difference in digging up someone today and taking a ring from them, than from digging up someone who died a hundred years ago and taking a ring from them.

 

I was watching antiques road show on monday night and some fool brought in an egyptian canopic jar which was dated to around 1000 BC.

While It was only worth between 4 to 6 thousand dollars, for some reason I struck by the ghastliness of it all as the human viscera was preserved in this manner

BTW: If she purchased it after 1970 she's fucked because you can't sell it legitimately on the open market.


Hotwater