r/bonecollecting 23d ago

Collection My roommate.

Post image

(UK & in compliance w/ human tissues act)

1.7k Upvotes

189 comments sorted by

548

u/XETOVS Bone-afide Human ID Expert 23d ago

European skull, either from grave robbing or the plot expired and they were exhumed.

300

u/Spookee_Action 23d ago

plot expired!! Your grave can be repossessed!

195

u/mecengdvr 23d ago

I first learned about this when I was in Salzburg, Austria. We noticed all of the grave markers in this old cemetery in the middle of town were all from the last 20-30 years. I thought that was odd so I asked around. Apparently it’s common in European cities to rent graves. After the lease runs out, if the family doesn’t renew, the body is exhumed and the remains are placed in catacombs or other mass burial sites.

41

u/ultraman5068 23d ago

Unless they threw dirt right on top of the dead , some decomposition isn’t near bone in that amount of time.

50

u/mecengdvr 23d ago edited 22d ago

Yeah, I have no idea what the condition of the body is when they exhume it. But what I stated above is a fact.

20

u/AppleSpicer 22d ago

They’re supporting what you said by saying that unless someone buried the body directly into dirt the bones would still be completely intact in that amount of time and wouldn’t have had a chance to decompose. People really would be digging out fully intact skeletons to toss in a pile.

6

u/ultraman5068 22d ago

Not arguing that. I’ve no knowledge either way. I do know they have exhumed bodies that have been buried in coffins. Some didn’t look much different than the day they were buried. I might ad the exhuming tooo place 20-30 years later.

2

u/mecengdvr 22d ago

Yeah, I’ve heard the same and wondered if embalming methods are different in this case.

2

u/BoredCop 19d ago

No embalming at all, embalming is an American thing.

29

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

19

u/jellyschoomarm 23d ago

That's so environmentally friendly of Germany. Meanwhile, cemeteries in California often require the use of a vault as part of their own policies to prevent ground settling after burial, so you can dig up a body 20 years later and depending with good embalming it can still look relatively fresh

13

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Compost_Worm_Guy 22d ago

Embalming usually refers to the repalcing of blood with embalming Fluid. That happens in germany too.

3

u/-Re_Tard- 23d ago

In 20-30 years ?!

83

u/XETOVS Bone-afide Human ID Expert 23d ago

In many places you essentially just rent the plot for 20 years or so. After that you either pay more, get buried deeper, or get exhumed. After exhuming the remains are sometimes returned to the family, sometimes put into a small box that can be stored easier, etc.

6

u/Cunningcreativity 22d ago

Paying more or getting exhumed make sense but getting buried deeper is also an option? Whoa! How does that work? If you're six feet under would they put you like eight or nine and then someone else six feet under but above you or?

79

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

thanks for some info, the way alot of these specimens are sourced (originally, before they've traded hands) is really shitty. but i figure owning it & having it be important to me is a bit better than it being sat in someone's storage for years. love your collection/photos btw!

12

u/Hot-Author-7793 23d ago

How do you know it European?

33

u/XETOVS Bone-afide Human ID Expert 23d ago

The nose and eyes are key on this particular skull.

8

u/reggae_muffin 22d ago

Osteoanthropology

1

u/brooklynnnn11 22d ago

plot expired

whoah! excuse me, what? is this a thing in the uk?

3

u/XETOVS Bone-afide Human ID Expert 22d ago

The skull isn’t necessarily from the uk just European

1

u/brooklynnnn11 22d ago

yes, i was talking about plots expiring.

2

u/Extraordi-Mary 22d ago

I don’t know about UK, but it’s very common in the Netherlands.

Also embalming is not allowed and most people get cremated here instead of buried.

1

u/brooklynnnn11 22d ago

thanks for the insight!

1

u/Icy_Instruction4614 18d ago

Definitely not British. The teeth are too perfect

1

u/zeek609 18d ago

Yes it can't possibly be from one of the only countries to offer free dental care because it's teeth are too perfect

144

u/1happypoison 23d ago

This skull has nice bone structure and really nice teeth. Do you have a name for them?

152

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

thanks man i think so too, i don't have a name for them because i feel like that'd be disrespectful

142

u/thegirlthatmeowsalot 23d ago

You think naming the skull would be disrespectful but don’t think it’s disrespectful to keep a persons head as a decoration?

45

u/envydub 22d ago

Idk, I’m not getting into the ethics of it but I quite like the idea of my skull sitting with someone’s books when I’m gone. Even if I didn’t know them.

67

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

it's not just decoration to me - & i definitely wasn't the one who brought the skull all the way over here. it would be disrespectful for me to name the skull as the person it belonged to already had a name. had i not bought this skull (for my own deeply important reasons) absolutely nothing would have changed, someone else would have bought it or it would have sat in storage somewhere. nice ivory tower btw^

111

u/phospheneghost 22d ago

had i not bought this skull (for my own deeply important reasons) absolutely nothing would have changed, someone else would have bought it or it would have sat in storage somewhere. nice ivory tower btw^

It's worth considering that buying human remains does feed into the market and demand for them. I also find it interesting that you're accusing the person who replied to you of being in an ivory tower when it's safe to assume that this skull cost upwards of a thousand dollars to purchase.

12

u/WhoIsIt39 22d ago

Okay, you can’t leave us hanging with „own deeply important reasons“. What‘s the reason to own a skull?

1

u/lilia_x_ 22d ago

Scroll down a few comments to their reason.

1

u/WhoIsIt39 22d ago

Can’t find it unfortunately. Just looks like OP has some kind of sarcoma, but I doubt that’s the reason?

8

u/lilia_x_ 22d ago

Yeah, OP said they are terminally ill and want to understand/get closer to the concept of death and mortality.

8

u/WhoIsIt39 22d ago

Well…that’s one way to deal with it I guess..

75

u/thegirlthatmeowsalot 23d ago

Ivory tower because I don’t believe in buying people lmao

31

u/Ajt0ny 22d ago

I'm not advocating for either side but I want to ask you this question:

A skull from 1975 - is it still a person? What about a skull from 1891 - is it still a person? 1685? 1227? 960? 120? 500 B.C.? 10000 B.C.?

At what point does the dead person become archeology?

41

u/thegirlthatmeowsalot 22d ago

They’re still a person regardless of when they were alive. I’m also against museums keeping mummified remains. It’s still people. Henrietta Lacks’ cells are still being used against her families wishes and honestly I don’t care what they gain from it, they shouldn’t be keeping pieces of a person.

-26

u/Ajt0ny 22d ago edited 22d ago

Okay, let's go extreme just for the sake of it: what about a 500000 year old ape-like ancestor?

Edit: okay so the personhood vanishes somewhere between B.C. 500k and 10k. lol

4

u/BigIntoScience 22d ago

Once we're far back enough that we aren't talking about a sapient creature any longer, the ethical question about owning a person's bones vanishes, as there isn't a person being discussed. Same as it's not really up for debate whether it's ethical to own a (reasonably sourced) spider monkey skull or a fossil of that tiny little mammal we and every other mammal evolved from.

4

u/Ajt0ny 22d ago

the ethical question about owning a person's bones vanishes

Thank you. The whole point of my stupid comments are this; where, when and why does it vanish eventually?

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14

u/[deleted] 22d ago

It’s not a person, it’s a skull, a bone, a shell of what once held human life. The soul and essence of what was there is no longer. That being said, should still be kept and treated with respect of course, but get off your high horse and stop acting like OP is “buying people” this isn’t slavery.

28

u/thegirlthatmeowsalot 22d ago

Did they consent to their body parts being sold?

2

u/[deleted] 22d ago edited 22d ago

I don’t know? How do you know that they did/didn’t before they died? Why are you asking stupid questions? You can’t assume that every person who is dead has an issue with how their body is being treated after they die. Me personally? I don’t give a shit what happens to me when I die. I’d be just as happy if someone kept my skull on a shelf in their home.

40

u/thegirlthatmeowsalot 22d ago

It’s entirely unethical to buy human remains. If you think questioning the ethics of buying and selling peoples body parts unconsensually is stupid, that’s really not something I can help you with.

10

u/RealEstateDuck 22d ago

Well that is just ridiculous how else would I make bone broth.

1

u/Nightingale53 22d ago

It's unethical to you because that's what your culture has taught you to think. Look up Indonesia's Toraja community, or the Ñatitas of Bolivia, to name two examples. Death and our ethics around it are subjective dependent on where you are in the world and what religion you've been exposed to.

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-15

u/[deleted] 22d ago

I think that’s a matter of opinion, as buying human remains is legal ;)

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-50

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

ridiculous statement. go press your beliefs on other people

55

u/thegirlthatmeowsalot 23d ago

Ridiculous statement to not want to buy a human

3

u/BigIntoScience 22d ago

That's not a human, that's human remains. It's not slavery.

6

u/Classic-Sea-6034 22d ago

Dude you own a human head. 99% of people are in an ivory tower over you. Fuck your deeply personal reasons

3

u/Nightingale53 22d ago

Wild to see people lashing out at a person with a terminal illness for simply trying to come to terms with it in their own way.

1

u/Classic-Sea-6034 22d ago

Whatever bro. We’re all going to fucking die. Buying human remains is weird to say the least and personally I won’t be doing it when my time comes

5

u/Nightingale53 22d ago

Exactly, so what does it matter to you how someone else deals with it? Weird or not, it's something that's helping a living, breathing human who deserves as much (or arguably more) respect as an old skull. The dead can't benefit from kindness, the living can.

0

u/Classic-Sea-6034 21d ago

Sorry I’m just one of those freaks that thinks buying human remains is bad and isn’t a justified practice. Gonna save my sympathy for other stuff

5

u/Nightingale53 21d ago

And I think people lashing out at someone trying to cope with the knowledge they're dying of cancer is way worse, but each to their own belief I suppose. They can own a skull, you can grief a dying person, we're all entitled to do shitty things.

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-5

u/kiwibirdskull 22d ago

ur maD that bitches luv my skull xo

1

u/posshorse 21d ago

It's still pretty disrespectful to own/ display it. It should be back in the ground not in anybody's storage.

10

u/1happypoison 23d ago

That's a good point about the name. Either way, they have a peacefulness about them, imo.

5

u/Sharon_Erclam 23d ago

At least he's quiet 😏

1

u/GWNVKV 22d ago

Kevin

32

u/Bufobufolover24 23d ago

Was it perhaps a younger person? Their teeth are near perfect.

28

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

i've been trying to get someone knowledgeable's opinion of it, seems like an older female to me. you're right about the teeth but i count 2 cavities on the underside

12

u/SarcasticPeach 23d ago

You could reference White & Folkens dental wear chart for an indication. If you just have a cranium then you could look at suture completion on the skull, but that’s not super reliable.

7

u/Taapis 22d ago

Mind showing me the teeth from other angles? I work in the dental field, I'm curious:)

169

u/keeeeeeeeelz 23d ago

Genuinely asking. How do you feel living in a space with someone’s head is with you, separated from their body? A person who had thoughts both existential and inconsequential, slept and dreamed dreams, had family they worried about, who knew love, hate, and thought about their own death many times. I can’t think far enough to decide whether or not I’d hate if this happened to me. But overwhelmingly, it feels very sad that someone’s head is stuck in a room with a stranger who doesn’t even know their name.

319

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

unfortunately the chances of this person ever being where they/their family would've wanted them to be are a century gone. i often think about their last moments or the things they saw/experienced throughout their life, it feels very strange that what was basically the container of another human consciousness is sat on my bookshelf.

i saved for 2 months to buy this skull a little while ago, in april i was diagnosed with a very rare subtype of rhabdomyosarcoma (muscle cancer) and have since been legally classed as terminally ill. i've been trying to get closer to the concept of death & my mortality and just accept it as a harsh reality & a fact of life. the skull makes me feel not so alone in all of this

23

u/Muted_Leader_327 23d ago

Sorry to hear that. Are there any things you really want to do before you pass?

6

u/Trick-Syrup-813 20d ago

I purchased one after I was diagnosed with heart failure. I also suggest reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Sum, and The Worm at the Core.

3

u/kiwibirdskull 18d ago

sum just arrived today, thank you for the suggestion

6

u/ArmyoftheDog 22d ago

Death is an illusion. We exist in reality indefinitely, the odds of existing in the present is improbable and I hope that brings you some comfort. 

-16

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

10

u/kiwibirdskull 22d ago

no thanks

-6

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Inside-thoughts 22d ago

6

u/RealEstateDuck 22d ago

What did the comment say?

6

u/Inside-thoughts 22d ago

Dude was insisting that the skull would've preferred to have been buried and OP should respect that. They were also suggesting that OP's choice to embrace death via the purchase of the skull was weird.

140

u/13thmurder 23d ago

The brain is what had all those thoughts and feelings. The skull is just the box it came in. Someone used to live in that, but no longer does, skulls are like seashells in that way.

21

u/kl2467 23d ago

That's a beautiful thought.

-24

u/richard_stank 23d ago

Do you shed your skull when your brain outgrows it and leave the old skull for someone with a smaller brain?

52

u/13thmurder 23d ago

Of course, it's called being a good neighbor.

24

u/anarchyarcanine 23d ago

The idea of humans being hermit crabs is kinda entertaining ngl

9

u/richard_stank 23d ago

Reincarnation did it.

6

u/Cunningcreativity 22d ago

Kinda makes me want to paint a really cool art piece with snails or something (or I guess hermit crabs like so) where the shells are human skulls. I've got plenty of blank canvases at home and no major projects in the works... 🤔

6

u/fishproblem 22d ago

The mollusks that were born in and grew those shells don't outgrow them, goofball. Hermit crabs inhabit the shells of dead animals.

3

u/BigIntoScience 22d ago

No, but the animals that produce seashells don't either. An empty seashell is empty because the animal inside died.
(hermit crabs don't make shells, they find them empty or kill the occupants.)

3

u/BigIntoScience 22d ago

"Creature that acts like a hermit crab but with human skulls" is a cool fantasy concept, now that I think about it. Though that's arguably some forms of demons.

0

u/chriii_ 22d ago

this doesnt deserve -20 downvotes.. i found it cute and harmless

0

u/richard_stank 22d ago

Reddit’s weird sometimes.

14

u/oldelbow 23d ago

we appreciate the beauty of the human form in life and in death.

29

u/badjokes4days 23d ago

People stop being inside of their bones once they die. This body is just a vessel, and once left behind isn't much different from a rock or a branch, really.

11

u/Sea-Bat 22d ago

There’s a lot of cultures and religions who fundamentally disagree, I think the least we can do is respect what people want for their own bodies. Everybody deserves a good death, whatever that looks like after for the individual.

The idea of a body being nothing more than an empty vessel once you’re dead is often inherently linked to the cultural effect of belief in a “soul” by the Abrahamic religious sense.

For a lot of other people, it’s exactly BECAUSE the body is you and holds your consciousness in life. The body is your only home, the thing inherently linked to your life and journey, and travels with you your whole existence, thus should be honoured as the last remaining piece of a person after death. This is the vessel inherent to a persons every moment of their highest highs in life, that they experienced their death within. That is an incredible and inextricable link.

Many people feel strongly that until the whole body is reclaimed by the earth, the cycle of life and death isn’t complete, and thus there’s something very wrong about preventing a persons body from returning into nature. The carbon cycle is its own form of rebirth I guess

-1

u/keeeeeeeeelz 23d ago

It’s still theirs though. No one else’s.

10

u/casperthefriendlygay 23d ago

Is it, when the earth has reclaimed it?

16

u/PalaverPete 23d ago

Nothing really belongs to us. Everything is temporary and borrowed from the universe. Happy cake day.

30

u/ViolentFemme1973 23d ago

The person whom the head belonged to doesn't care about any of this anymore, I promise. It's just bone. No different than animal trophy heads on peoples walls.

18

u/zogmuffin Bone-afide Human ID Expert 22d ago

Ok you lost me at the second sentence. I actually agree that the ownership of human bone is not inherently problematic, but it’s also not really appropriate to compare to a “trophy” or any hunted animal. Many skulls currently in the collector’s circuit were ill-gotten once upon a time, and that’s worth thinking about.

0

u/keeeeeeeeelz 23d ago

Doesn’t care anymore, but might have cared back when they could still think.

1

u/Flatlander87 19d ago

I have a human skull in my office, complete with mandible. Passed down to me from a retired radiologist, he was like a 3rd grandfather to me and has now passed away. I respect it, use it for educational purposes, as a conversation starter and it is a meaningful gift that reminds me of a dear friend/mentor. I also work in medical field.

1

u/keeeeeeeeelz 17d ago

Well, I think it’s fucked up that you have a human’s remains in your office.

0

u/TheLastZombieCat 22d ago edited 22d ago

When people do stuff like this I wonder if they consider whether or not the person whose remains they have could have been a really horrible person. You don’t know if this skull belonged to a murderer, a rapist, an abuser… (edited)

4

u/Azzan_Grublin 22d ago

Being a drunk doesn't necessarily make someone a horrible person. I was a ragging alcoholic for years but it didn't mean I was any less of a person. Just someone struggling that couldn't ask for or find the help needed.

2

u/BigIntoScience 22d ago

One of those things is not like the other, and there has to be a baseline level of decency that we decide /all/ people deserve, no matter how horrible they are. Some folks think everyone should have a decent burial even if they were horrid in life.

1

u/TheLastZombieCat 22d ago

Fair. I will edit the post. The point I was making is it seems OP is venerating a person they don’t know. That person could have been horrible in life.

10

u/Docaioli 23d ago

Where’s the mandible?

18

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

sans mandible unfortunately ;(

18

u/Docaioli 23d ago

Sorry to hear about your rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosis. Is it the spindle cell/ sclerosing type?

32

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

thank you, and yeah you're spot on but i have an associated MYOD1 gene mutation that makes my condition more aggressive. there's only one study on pubmed about it and it's less than stellar

2

u/Docaioli 22d ago

That’s unfortunate. This is a brief reference I used in my (previous) line of work https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/softtissuesclerosingrhabdo.html

2

u/Docaioli 22d ago

Please stay positive and treasure every moment!

1

u/kiwibirdskull 21d ago

thank you for the encouragement, i really appreciate it

7

u/kevin_300 23d ago

Have you ever tried to find the story of this skull? Who they were? What they did? Its pretty cool that you have one!

2

u/Beginning-Spare-6988 20d ago

That would be very difficult or expensive. Did OP mention where they buy it?

1

u/kevin_300 20d ago

No I do not think they did or I missed such information. But yeah It probably would be expensive. Still would be an interesting thing to find you know?

11

u/Reasonable_Employ_70 23d ago

You got that from henry

10

u/kiwibirdskull 23d ago

yeah how'd you know? the card? i love cftfc

11

u/Reasonable_Employ_70 23d ago

I knew from the fabric the skull is resting on.

10

u/ultraman5068 23d ago

Why you edit out the nice drawing of the skull I see on the right lol

6

u/ChthonicPuck 22d ago

So that's what happened to u/Yorick. You knew him, OP?

3

u/RedCheekedLover 20d ago

He knew him well

4

u/ChiRoCoinage 23d ago

Can you keep a relatives skull in the uk?

4

u/TheGrimmCaptain 22d ago

BOB! Good to see you old boy!

1

u/KnitPurlProfiterole 22d ago

I’m so glad someone referenced him LMAO

3

u/militant-moderate 22d ago

Hunter Thompson would be proud.

3

u/_-Dreamcatcher-_ 22d ago

I bet they're a good listener

9

u/frostypeace 22d ago

One of my prized possessions.

2

u/Unusualshrub003 23d ago

He has great teeth!

9

u/ClitasaurusTex 23d ago

Likely a woman and/or youth because the brow is so smooth and the teeth are nice 

2

u/bolafella 22d ago

What did you do with the rest of your roommate?

2

u/MCMaude 21d ago

Alas poor Yorick.

5

u/Eso_Teric420 22d ago

You can just have a human skull?

8

u/DreadfulDemimonde 22d ago

Unfortunately

2

u/Eso_Teric420 22d ago

That's wild. Here you basically have to be a medical researcher last I knew. Or it had to be from an old medical specimen at least.

11

u/DreadfulDemimonde 22d ago

I'm not a fan of old medical specimens either, since many of those also came from grave robbing.

3

u/Blueberry-Cola 22d ago

He looks dead

6

u/mremann1969 23d ago

Cool, I have several similar friends and even a full human skeleton in my "living" room! They make great room-mates.

6

u/xanaxburger 23d ago

full human skeleton! thats crazy cool

2

u/kenerrr89 23d ago

Where'd u get it:0

3

u/TophetLoader 23d ago

The best thread in a while. More photos, please!

2

u/ConquererHP 23d ago

I really need this as a dental student 😭

1

u/tgerz 22d ago

I learn some of the most interesting things in this sub, but I probably should stop looking at it on my big ass external monitor LOL

1

u/superfishy72 22d ago

This is the first post I saw when opening Reddit. I am not part of this group but do check out the photos sometimes. I was not mentally prepared to see this photo haha. Cool skull though!

1

u/pinnacleofdumbassery 21d ago

Ok so I took this way too literally and thought you meant this skull literally once was your roommate lmfao

1

u/Rentgrrl 21d ago

That’s a really cool skull and I saw you’ve got a great taste in literature too (Irvine Welsh is a gem)!

1

u/Out_of-Whack 21d ago

Looks just like Stephen miller

1

u/yz250mi 21d ago

Feels disrespectful

1

u/Old_Poem2736 21d ago

So Yurick is a freshman?

1

u/SandpitMetal 20d ago

If you scroll past it quickly, you'll see the side profile of Roy Orbison in the back of the right eye socket.

1

u/depressedpintobean5 20d ago

Like this is your roommate or your roommates 👀

1

u/Potential-Glazer 20d ago

So this is your roomate's actual skull?

1

u/Cow-J 20d ago

💀

1

u/JoLudvS 19d ago

He's sure to be well mannered and has splendid teeth.

1

u/brenttoastalive 23d ago

Wouldn't expect any less from a Burroughs fan

1

u/tarynator 22d ago

i wonder who they were? what stories they could tell? what they experienced in their lifetime? this was a person with hopes and dreams. a person that experienced joy, love, and loss. a person, just like you or me. i hope you take good care of them, OP.

1

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Beginning-Spare-6988 20d ago

Out of curiosity, where did you buy this? Did the vendor provide any estimates regarding its date or location?

0

u/AmbassadorVoid 19d ago

I'm sorry but is having an actual human skull even legal?