Exploring Taste Formation and Performance in the Illicit Trade of Human Remains on Instagram

Davidson, K.; Graham, Shawn; Huffer, Damien

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-84856-9_3

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Simpson 2011, 103;Eseonu and Okoye 2023). It may also present as normalizing illicit behaviour and supporting subaltern perspectives about a socially taboo practice (Davidson et al 2021;Huffer and Graham 2023). In our research, we find that the content of social media posts within the bone trade signal both the mechanisms for attaining individual prestige (both economic benefit and social benefit within the oddities subculture), as well as the performance of an aesthetic that generates solidarity and notoriety for the group as a whole.…”

Section: Informed Consent and Critical Inquirysupporting

confidence: 56%

A Protocol for When Social Media Goes Private: Studying archaeological or heritage discourses in closed Facebook groups

Davidson,

Graham,

Huffer

2024

Internet Archaeol.

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Our major project explores the discourses that surround the buying and selling of human remains over social media. We discuss the research ethics framework established in Canada by the 'Tri-Council' research agencies as it pertains to studying social media in general. Issues of privacy and consent are paramount. Human remains trading happens in both public and private social media. We detail the process we went through, and the protocol that we evolved as a result, for studying private social media posts in closed Facebook groups. This process, protocol, and rationale may be useful for other researchers studying how archaeology and cultural heritage are framed or discussed in these venues. What people say in public is not what might be said in private, and researchers need ethical approaches to study such discourses.

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Section: Informed Consent and Critical Inquirysupporting

confidence: 56%

A Protocol for When Social Media Goes Private: Studying archaeological or heritage discourses in closed Facebook groups

Davidson,

Graham,

Huffer

2024

Internet Archaeol.

Self Cite

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“…Over the last several years, we have been studying the public posts made by individuals, participants, traders and enthusiasts relating to human remains across multiple platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Marktplaats (Davidson et al 2021;Graham and Huffer 2020;Graham et al 2020b;Graham et al 2020a;Graham et al 2022;Huffer and Graham 2017;2018;Huffer et al 2021;Huffer et al 2019;Huffer et al 2022). When posts are made on these open public platforms there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy, according to research ethics guidelines provided by the Canadian Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada (Tri-Council 2022, 48).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behind Closed Doors: The Human Remains Trade within Private Facebook Groups

Graham,

Davidson,

Huffer

2024

Internet Archaeol.

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The existence of a thriving trade in human remains online is facilitated by social media platforms. While much of this trade is conducted in fully public forums such as e-commerce platforms, the retail website of bricks-and-mortar stores, public personal and business pages on social media, etc., there also exist numerous private groups using the affordances of various social media platforms to buy, sell, and share photographs of human remains. This article describes a case study of four private Facebook groups featuring people who buy and sell human remains, to explore how the discourses of the trade may be different when not made in public. Using a close-reading approach on the text of posts and threaded conversations, and associated visual similarity analysis of the accompanying photographs, we observe, among other things, a strikingly 'more professional' approach, shibboleths and patterns of behaviour that serve to create group identities. We analyse posts made over a seven-week period across the selected private groups in the run-up to the 2023 holiday season. Given the issues of privacy raised by studying private groups, we also experiment with a locally hosted large language model to see if it could classify discourses meaningfully without the intervention of a researcher having to read the original posts. This case study might also serve as a model for other kinds of research investigating the reception of various archaeological topics that might be discussed and understood differently in private versus public venues.

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Ethics and applications of isotope analysis in archaeology

Stantis,

Schaefer,

Correia

et al. 2024

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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This synthesis explores specific ethical questions that commonly arise in isotopic analysis. For more than four decades, isotope analysis has been employed in archeological studies to explore past human and animal dietary habits, mobility patterns, and the environment in which a human or animal inhabited during life. These analyses require consideration of ethical issues. While theoretical concepts are discussed, we focus on practical aspects: working with descendant communities and other rights holders, choosing methods, creating and sharing data, and working mindfully within academia. These layers of respect and care should surround our science. This paper is relevant for specialists in isotope analysis as well as those incorporating these methods into larger projects. By covering the whole of the research process, from design to output management, we appeal broadly to archaeology and provide actionable solutions that build on the discussions in the general field.

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Exploring Taste Formation and Performance in the Illicit Trade of Human Remains on Instagram

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

A Protocol for When Social Media Goes Private: Studying archaeological or heritage discourses in closed Facebook groups

A Protocol for When Social Media Goes Private: Studying archaeological or heritage discourses in closed Facebook groups

Behind Closed Doors: The Human Remains Trade within Private Facebook Groups

Ethics and applications of isotope analysis in archaeology

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