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Some early forensic anthropologists were essentially “grave robbers.”

anthropologists is something that the field now agrees should be left in the past: Some early forensic anthropologists were essentially “grave robbers.” They dug up graves all over the world to analyze the bones of different native peoples. Grave robbing is an ancient phenomenon. The tombs of Egyptian pharaohs were robbed as soon as grave robbers could devise a way to tunnel in and steal their buried gold and jewels. But 19th-century anthropologists traveled to communities around the world and unearthed graves without family or community permission. Massive collections of bones and skulls were transported from world locations to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and other major universities and museums. African American and Native American graveyards were plundered for scientific research purposes.

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Forensic Anthropology