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Old 01-01-2007, 01:59 AM   #1 (permalink)
Manorfire
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Location: England
The Sanctity of Graves

Quote:
Antique false teeth go on display

A 200-year-old pair of French false teeth are going on display for the first time at the Museum of London.

The 18th Century teeth, which belonged to the Archbishop of Narbonne, who died in 1806, were found in his coffin after an archaeologists' dig in London.

They were digging at St Pancras graveyard ahead of building work on the Channel Tunnel's new rail terminus.

The porcelain dentures, which were still sitting in Arthur Richard Dillon's mouth, feature gold springs.

It is thought he may have bought them from top Parisian dentist Nicholas De Chemant.

Dillon, who was ordained as Archbishop of Narbonne in 1763, escaped the guillotine during the French Revolution before fleeing to England in 1791.

Museum of London archaeologist Natasha Powers said: "These unique artefacts reflect a pivotal time in dental history with the adoption of new materials and methods of manufacture.

"They also represent a period of significant social and economic change for the upper echelons of French society."
Source - BBC - Click on the link for a picture of the teeth, if you're interested!

The St Pancras excavation was something of an archaeological cause celebre, as the archaeologists were only able to remove some of the bodies before the contractors moved in to bulldoze the site. This lead to protests of disrespect, which forced them to agree to re-inter the remaining bodies. The problem wasn't a lack of regulations protecting the site, but that the contractors were deliberately ignoring them to save time and 'you guessed it'... English law states a statutory obligation that excavated/exhumed remains are always respected, regardless of how old they are.

Anyway, given the finite quantity of land available for new developments, plots such as disused graveyards are being sold off and redeveloped in the UK (by disused I mean their populations are no longer being added to). The first part of my pondering is just how unused should a graveyard be before it is OK to build on it?

Secondly, when a cemetery is redeveloped, usually the previous occupants are relocated to an ossuary in another cemetery. While this disturbance takes place, is it alright for any grave contents to be removed and handed or sold to museums etc? After all, I guess the Archbishop isn't going to need his false teeth anymore! Does your opinion depend on how old the grave is or how important the grave's contents are?

Some would argue that we have learned greatly from the foreign culture grave goods now littering museums (Egyptian, Greek, Roman etc). Indeed, some museums exhibit the ancient remains, tombs and burials themselves. I have to say, I winced when I saw the body of one Egyptian King on display in 'The Louvre'. He was laying awkwardly on a small platform, protected by glass, nude but for a bit of cloth draped over his hips. I kind of felt sorry for him, stripped of his ornate wrappings and all of his treasures. I would not want my Grandma on similar display no matter how much could be learned...
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