Medical Practices and Teaching Specimens: A Review of Skeletal Modifications Associated with Medical Intervention and the Educational Use of Human Remains, with Application to Subadult Individuals from the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery

Summary

From life to death and beyond the grave, the bodies of the individuals buried at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery have been vulnerable to the actions and authority of medical professionals.  Medical procedures and the implementation of human remains for training purposes are two forms of culturally-sanctioned skeletal modifications detected among the juvenile remains recovered from the 1991-1992 Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery excavations.  This paper presents the results of a literature search of the topics of archaeological evidence for surgical practices and written documentation of medical practices performed on juveniles that would impact the skeleton.  The results of this literature review is used to provide context for the juvenile individuals buried at the cemetery as well as to document post-excavation modifications that were imposed upon the remains for educational purposes.     

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bookends: What We’ve Learned in the Twenty-two Years Separating Archaeological Excavations of the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 223