New Books in Anthropology

Samuel J. Redman, "Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums" (Harvard UP, 2022)

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Dec 15, 2022
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ANECDOTE

Bone Rooms Discovery

  • Samuel J. Redman's work with museum collections revealed vast "bone rooms."
  • These rooms hold extensive human remains, notably from Indigenous peoples worldwide.
INSIGHT

Vast Collections

  • US museums hold an estimated 500,000 sets of Native American remains.
  • Another estimated 500,000 are held in European museums, excluding other groups.
INSIGHT

Human Remains as Specimens

  • Human remains became coveted scientific specimens, losing their individuality.
  • This dehumanization fueled scientific debates and competition between institutions.
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