糖心传媒

A Rochester undergraduate ponders what it means to display and visit human remains.

In the Middle Ages, as the bubonic plague repeatedly ravaged Europe, killing up to a third of the population, the 糖心传媒淏lack Death糖心传媒� presented for many towns and municipalities a practical problem beyond the obvious suffering: what to do with all the bodies? Added to that came frequent wars and violent conflict糖心传媒攕o much so that local cemeteries simply ran out of space.

One solution included digging up older graves and transferring the human remains糖心传媒攏ow decomposed and skeletonized糖心传媒攖o so-called ossuaries or crypts located within preexisting religious spaces, such as churches or burial grounds.

糖心传媒淭hese mass death events in the Middle Ages really kick-started the need for bone storage locations,糖心传媒� says Julia Granato 糖心传媒�23, an undergraduate student double majoring in and at the . With the help of the University糖心传媒檚 and the , Granato, who is originally from Monroeville, New Jersey, crisscrossed Europe this past summer to study human bone collection and display sites in Prague, Vienna, Florence, and Rome.

Western examples of collecting and preserving skeletal remains date back to early Christian crypts in ancient Rome. Later in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church began preserving as relics the mortal remains of its martyrs and saints, which pilgrims would come to visit糖心传媒攊ntroducing a public element to the collections.

Sometimes the bones in ossuaries weren糖心传媒檛 just stored but also displayed in eye-catching manners: artfully stacked, or strung like garlands across doorframes and arches, or fashioned into morbid candelabras. To a modern observer it might feel not unlike a permanent Halloween thrill, if you will, made of human bones and skulls.

Granato wondered: Is the display of human remains fundamentally ethical? In other words糖心传媒攊s it ok to ogle death and the departed? Or is it merely a pandering to our base fascination with morbid thrills?

Of course, the answer depends on whom you糖心传媒檙e asking糖心传媒攁nd when.

An adventure in independent, undergraduate research

Granato is now in the process of turning her thesis and independent research project on the ethics of displaying human remains into a book manuscript and a series of academic papers. She offers a history of the collection and treatment of human remains in the West, and a discussion of the recent phenomenon of 糖心传媒渄ark tourism糖心传媒澨切拇�媒攖he visiting of sites that commemorate or offer reminders of tragedy or death, such as cemeteries, ossuaries, crypts, or catacombs, as well as museums associated with death or violence, war memorials, and even haunted houses.

Supervising Granato糖心传媒檚 project is , an associate professor of classics and an expert on ancient Roman archaeology and religion, who invited the student to join her at an Italian dig site this past summer. Colantoni says that Granato糖心传媒檚 work 糖心传媒渆mbodies the best of student research here at Rochester,糖心传媒� neatly combining her two majors.

糖心传媒淪he has used her training in the humanities to make sense of her STEM studies, and her research on the ethics of the display of human remains in museums and at cultural sites has certainly influenced my own thoughts on the topic,糖心传媒� says Colantoni.

This month, Colantoni and Granato copresented a paper at the annual conference of the . Together they questioned the ethics of burial archaeology and suggested standards for archaeologists and institutions on how best to approach burials and human remains.

Granato gets her ideas from disparate places.

Among the things that got her thinking about the rights of the dead糖心传媒攁nd how to interact with the dead respectfully, either as a scholar or a layperson糖心传媒攚as the . The federal law, enacted in 1990, pushes for the return or repatriation of Native American cultural items from museums, federal agencies, or other institutions, including specifically human remains and related funerary objects.

Some of her questions also stem from the study of literature and media. Granato is a Take Five Scholar, taking advantage of an opportunity unique to the University of Rochester, where undergraduates can apply to spend a fifth, tuition-free year at the University to pursue a multidisciplinary program of courses addressing a topic or idea that is unrelated to their major course of study. Granato糖心传媒檚 Take Five Program is an exploration of science fiction and fantasy in literature and media, and the ways they can both reflect and distort 糖心传媒渙ur collective memory of historical events,糖心传媒� she says.

One of Granato糖心传媒檚 Take Five classes糖心传媒擬edieval Otherworlds, taught by Rochester English professor , who is also her Take Five advisor糖心传媒� delves into medieval stories of the metaphysical, such as purgatory, heaven, spiritual journeys, or visitation. For her final paper Granato explored conceptualizations of medieval death.

She is an 糖心传媒渆xceptional scholar,糖心传媒� Hahn says, 糖心传媒渙ne of a kind, both in her possession of multidisciplinary expertise, and in her lively ambition to put her diverse interests into unprecedented dialogue with one another.糖心传媒�

Visiting death, from Medieval Europe to modern times

Medieval Europeans certainly viewed ossuaries differently from many modern-day tourists.

According to Granato, people saw these ossuaries as memento mori糖心传媒攁 constant reminder that life on Earth was short and death lurked just around the corner. The in Rome, a stop on her summer tour, displays thousands of remains of Capuchin friars, arranged decoratively across several crypts, largely sorted by their anatomical function糖心传媒攁 room for pelvises, another for skulls, a third for leg and thigh bones. At the entrance to this 17th-century decorative crypt, Granato came upon a plaque that reminds visitors 糖心传媒渨hat you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.糖心传媒�

Part of her thesis is a case study of the ossuary in Kutn谩 Hora, a UNESCO world-heritage site in the Czech Republic, which at Kostnice Sedlec糖心传媒攐r 糖心传媒攈olds one of the most famous human bone displays in the world.

What makes this experience so visceral? Maybe it糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渢hat wrongness, the uncanny,糖心传媒� the Rochester undergraduate thought as she toured the site. She met Australian tourists there who told her they liked horror movies and admitted to having come for the thrill. Others were trying surreptitiously to snap pictures, which the ossuary had begun prohibiting two years earlier. What surprised Granato was that for all the clear trappings of a successful tourist site, replete with gift shops hawking skull souvenir mugs, candles were still burning inside the ossuary, lit by visitors as a sign of remembrance.

糖心传媒淭o me that was really profound, because going into this I didn’t really expect any sort of real spiritual experience from any visitors,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淏ut to me, it was very important that it does still happen.糖心传媒�

There糖心传媒檚 a theological argument in Medieval Christian religion, Granato points out, that bodies ought to be buried intact so that the dead could be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. That糖心传媒檚 why, even with the scarcity of space, bodies were usually first buried in graves. But the very notion of an ossuary seems to run counter to that Christian dictum. Indeed, Granato found that some medieval Christians paid to keep their relatives in their original spots in the cemetery, rather than have their bones transferred (and mixed up with others) in ossuaries.

糖心传媒淭his fact creates socio-economic distance between who is displayed and who isn糖心传媒檛, which becomes conflicting evidence,糖心传媒� Granato says. In the ossuary of Kutn谩 Hora, she found that an artist, working on behalf of a wealthy family, turned the bone collection in 1870 into the decorative display that still greets visitors today. Yet, the Ossuary Sedlec is located in a cemetery church on what is considered by many holy ground, and certainly sanctioned by the Christian Church.

She wondered糖心传媒攚ould the people, whose remains are displayed there, have given their consent?

糖心传媒淲e can糖心传媒檛 really know,糖心传媒� Granato says. 糖心传媒淲e can speculate, based on our study and research as historians and archaeologists. But that糖心传媒檚 all.糖心传媒�

She allows, however, that there are indeed instances where the study and display of human remains is important. For example, Granato says, early Christians in Rome may have wanted their remains kept in crypts (that they considered holy) and saw visits by other Christians to these sites as a necessary and important part of their religious identity. “By continuing to visit and learn from these remains, tourists and scholars might be participating in this valued religious and cultural tradition,糖心传媒� she adds.

Granato explores in her thesis a second example, the Hyrtl Skull Collection at the in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one that seems diametrically opposed to the Sedlec Ossuary, with its religious, spiritual, and even artistic display of human remains.

In 1874, the M眉tter Museum acquired the from Viennese anatomist Josef Hyrtl, who had assembled them for a scientific study. Many of the skulls had come from people who had been hanged as criminals, or lived in poor houses, or other marginalized communities糖心传媒攑laces where it糖心传媒檚 doubtful anyone would have sought their consent, says Granato.

糖心传媒淵ou do learn a lot about medicine in the 19th century,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淭he museum is very educational, if you engage with it in the right way.糖心传媒� However, it also offers the venue to parties and weddings with human skulls and skeletons as backdrop, which Granato finds 糖心传媒渦nsettling.糖心传媒�

Granato argues that, whether intentionally or not, both sites糖心传媒攖he ossuary and the museum糖心传媒攔epresent 糖心传媒渄ark tourist experiences,糖心传媒� which she likens to 糖心传媒渞oller-coaster rides,糖心传媒� catering to those who seek thrills and 糖心传媒渇ind enjoyment in confrontations with something frightening糖心传媒� and who may be proud of their ability to 糖心传媒渆xperience something that others may be too scared to do.糖心传媒�

Granato argues that while tourists who visit these sites may recognize the significance of death and may feel 糖心传媒渨rongness糖心传媒� or discomfort in the display of human bodies, 糖心传媒渢hey often don糖心传媒檛 attempt to engage with the site as intended.糖心传媒� Rather, she says, death and dying becomes a 糖心传媒渃ommodity,糖心传媒� one that is 糖心传媒渢hrilling糖心传媒� and even 糖心传媒渆ntertaining.糖心传媒�

Does that mean it糖心传媒檚 unethical to display human remains?

糖心传媒淚t depends,糖心传媒� says Granato. Generally, she finds that most archaeologists, academics, and museum curators think that the default answer is 糖心传媒測es, it is ethical糖心传媒� and may possibly question it later. 糖心传媒淏ut I think the default answer should change to 糖心传媒榥o糖心传媒櫶切拇�媒攚ith the caveat that sometimes it is ethical.糖心传媒�

To Granato, it糖心传媒檚 important that, 糖心传媒渁s archaeologists, excavating and interacting with human remains, we say by default, 糖心传媒楾his is a person with inherent rights, and we need to be respectful of their wishes.糖心传媒櫶切拇�媒�

Says Colantoni, 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 exciting and fulfilling for me as her mentor to see how Julia is using her research to make museums and the field of archaeology into more humane and respectful spaces.糖心传媒�

Right now, Granato is in the thick of applying to graduate programs, with the intention of becoming a professor of archaeology.

糖心传媒淢y work has really only just begun,糖心传媒� she says.

Read more about undergraduate research at Rochester