Historical, demographic, curatorial and legal aspects of the BoneMedLeg human skeletal reference collection (Porto, Portugal)

Cardoso, Hugo F.V.; Marinho, Luísa; Caldas, Inês Morais; Puentes, Katerina; Andrade, Marina; Assis, Sandra; Magalhães, Teresa

doi:10.1127/anthranz/2019/1023

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…In contrast, in southern Europe and Latin America there has been little change. A good piece of evidence for that lack of change in perceptions, attitudes and legislation is that collections are still being curated and developed in this part of the world and at a seemingly fast pace (Alemán et al 2012;Ferreira et al 2014;Belcastro et al 2017;Cattaneo et al 2018;Cardoso et al 2020), suggesting that, if anything, a change has occurred that actually encourages amassing collections. This does not mean, however, that curators and researchers in charge of cemetery-based collections are not concerned about or sensitive to ethics or legislation and changing attitudes towards the scientific use of the dead body.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cemetery-based collections, on the other hand, are typically more loosely regulated by cemetery legislation, which typically does not include specific stipulations about the use of unclaimed remains for research purposes. An exception here is Italy, where legislation is at the foundation of collections such as the one curated at the University of Milan (Cattaneo et al 2018), but more usually the legal framework draws on preexisting general principles, provisions and practices of the law by analogy, and this is the case with cemetery-based collections in Portugal (Conselho National de Ética para a Ciências da Vida 2015; Cardoso et al 2020).…”

Section: The Cultural Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because new skeletal reference collections in Portugal can include the remains of the very recently deceased (e.g. Escoval 2016;Ferreira et al 2014;Cardoso et al 2020), this should be a concern of all curators in support of ethically sourced material.…”

Section: Consentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the best of the authors' knowledge, no community engagement projects have been undertaken in Portugal led by institutions housing skeletal reference collections, including the years during which the author curated the collection at the National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon (Cardoso 2006). Although incompletely realised, the exception is perhaps the BoneMedLeg cemetery collection, which was amassed in partnership with the Municipality of Porto, and included community engagement and outreach activities as part of the agreement (Cardoso et al 2020). On the other hand, harm is not reducible to communities, but to the dead themselves as the living persons they once were (Scarre 2003(Scarre , 2006.…”

Section: Dignity and Respectmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Ethical, Cultural and Historical Background for Cemetery-Based Human Skeletal Reference Collections

Cardoso

2021

JCA

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OPEN ACCESS-PAID-CC BY-NC-ND In historically Protestant countries, human skeletal reference collections curated by research institutions have been amassed from bodies dissected by anatomists, typically unclaimed cadavers from morgues and hospitals, or from remains donated to science. In contrast to these anatomy-based and donation-based collections, skeletal reference collections in historically Roman Catholic countries on mainland Europe and in Latin America are for the most part derived from unclaimed remains exhumed from modern cemeteries and ossuaries at the end of the mandated interment period. While much has been written in English about the history, context and ethical framework of anatomy-derived collections, cemetery-based collections have received very little critical attention. The current paper addresses this gap, with particular reference to cemetery-derived collections in Portugal. The cultural and historical context of southern Europe is discussed, particularly Roman Catholic mortuary traditions and the influence of the Napoleonic Code, and these provide the background for an overview of the ethical issues raised by cemetery-derived collections. Here, general principles that should guide the work of human osteologists working in archaeological contexts are relevant, as regards consent, dignity and respect and benefits to science and education, because unlike their anatomy-derived counterparts, cemetery-based collections include individuals who were once buried.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Cultural Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Consentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dignity and Respectmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Ethical, Cultural and Historical Background for Cemetery-Based Human Skeletal Reference Collections

Cardoso

2021

JCA

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“…However, it is important to note that a signi cant portion of the collection is currently still undocumented and includes a large proportion of individuals who have died more recently, around and a er 1980. Other collections in Portugal incorporated individuals who died between 1969 and 2001, 54 and even more recently between 1995 and 2008. 55 Likewise, it would be interesting to examine whether the lack of association between time elapsed since death and SES found in this study is also found in these other collections, particularly because the communal graves in Portugal were decommissioned in 1962 56 and, consequently, the poorest began to be systematically buried in temporary plots a er that date.…”

Section: And Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Structural violence and the nature of cemetery-based skeletal reference collections

Vanderbyl

Albanese

Cardoso

2020

Human Remains and Violence

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The sourcing of cadavers for North American skeletal reference collections occurred immediately after death and targeted the poor and marginalised. In Europe, collections sourced bodies that were buried and unclaimed after some time in cemeteries with no perpetual care mandate, and may have also targeted the underprivileged. The relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and abandonment was examined in a sample of unclaimed remains (603 adults and 98 children) collected from cemeteries in the city of Lisbon, Portugal, that were incorporated in a collection. Results demonstrate that low SES individuals are not more likely to be abandoned nor to be incorporated in the collection than higher SES individuals. Furthermore, historical data indicate that the poorest were not incorporated into the collection, because of burial practices. Although the accumulation of collections in North America was facilitated by structural violence that targeted the poor and marginalised, this phenomenon seems largely absent in the Lisbon collection.

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The Identified Skeleton Collection of Évora: importance for forensic science and bioarchaeology in the southern inland of Portugal

Lopes

Fernandes

2021

Int J Legal Med

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The importance of reference osteological collections is unquestionable. However, the development of methodologies is more reliable the closer the collection is socioeconomically, demographically, and genetically to the population under study. The purpose of this study is to characterize and contextualize a new Portuguese reference collection. The collection of identified skeletons from the University of Évora comprises 201 adults of both sexes and seven non-adults, deceased between 1870 and 1993 and born between 1790 and 1969. It consists almost exclusively of individuals who were born and died in inland Alentejo, being the only Portuguese collection with this characteristic. The collection was built following all current legal and ethical obligations. Due to its characteristics, the collection constitutes a fundamental tool for forensic and bioarchaeological research in the inland regions of Portugal. In addition to the possibility offered to develop and validate methodologies in both sciences, the available complete hospital archives for research make this collection unique for health studies before, during, and after the epidemiological transition.

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Historical, demographic, curatorial and legal aspects of the BoneMedLeg human skeletal reference collection (Porto, Portugal)

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

An Ethical, Cultural and Historical Background for Cemetery-Based Human Skeletal Reference Collections

An Ethical, Cultural and Historical Background for Cemetery-Based Human Skeletal Reference Collections

Structural violence and the nature of cemetery-based skeletal reference collections

The Identified Skeleton Collection of Évora: importance for forensic science and bioarchaeology in the southern inland of Portugal

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