Today (Sep 7th) is International Vulture Awareness Day and it’s a subject close to my heart. I’m sure it’s obvious that I’d have a soft-spot for the carrion feeders of the world: vultures, hyenas, maggots etc who can only sustain themselves by feeding on the flesh of the dead. They’re misunderstood, often ugly and overlooked – but profoundly necessary to our ‘circle of life’. If it wasn’t for these maligned creatures we’d be knee-deep in corpses, and the work they do ensures the fertilisation of our soil and the capacity for new growth; new life. My husband adopted me a vulture called Cassius very early on in our relationship (he’s at the @hawkconservancy trust in Andover) and we see him often, on our drives to Cornwall and Devon. This is an image of a Tibetan Sky Burial from Asian Geographic, illustrating the practice of leaving the dead out in a specific location to be consumed by vultures and – in a natural way – be returned to the earth. So many cultures have different methods of what we call ‘disposal of the dead’ and while Sky Burial may seem abhorrent to some, imagine what they think of ours. Some cultures used to consume the hearts of their dead in a reverential ceremony, to take in the spirit of the one who’d passed, and would wonder why we afford our decedents the travesty of pumping them full of chemicals, locking them in a box and dumping them in the ground. Its often said that “in death we’re truly equal” but there have been, and still are, many ways for the privileged to illustrate that isn’t the case, whether it’s paying for ‘mort-safes’ during the body snatching frenzy of the 19th Century or interring members of prominent families in marble mausoleums. Whatever a person wants for their final repose I think it’s their choice entirely, and we should make a point of understanding all the options out there with no judgement, and especially look on carrion feeders as the misunderstood little heroes they are 💀 (PS get your kids into this concept early by purchasing ‘The Ugly Five’ by Julia Donaldson) #vulture #vultureawarenessday #vultures #skyburial #carrion #carrionfeeders #internationalvultureawarenessday
Who’s in the same position? It’s our 1st ever school summer holiday and for today only, after finishing Reception, I brought Caleb into work. He was incredibly keen to learn all about the skeletons while wearing his Bart Simpson “Bad to the Bone” t-shirt (he’s been interested in skeletons and skulls since we went to the ossuary at St Leonard’s Church in Hythe.) Hopefully other kids will be just as keen when we put an object handling event on, which I’m hoping to organise as committee member of @medicalmuseums this October ☠️ If you’re interested in coming to our events over summer and in the autumn, email [email protected] to be placed on the mailing list. For my OG followers, I know! Can you believe how much he’s grown??! #pathology #pathologymuseum #medicalmuseum #medicine #anatomy #anatomymuseum #london #skeletons #wetspecimenconservation
I look as though I’m going to kill this girl and eat her! Thanks so much to @stevecrossphotos for taking these pics during my sold out talk at @oldoperatingtheatre last week. I’m thinking of repeating the talk at my place (Bart’s Pathology Museum) because so many people have asked me to! Watch this space…❤️🔪
I look as though I’m going to kill this girl and eat her! Thanks so much to @stevecrossphotos for taking these pics during my sold out talk at @oldoperatingtheatre last week. I’m thinking of repeating the talk at my place (Bart’s Pathology Museum) because so many people have asked me to! Watch this space…❤️🔪
I don’t deny it…💀 #deathindustry
“Stomach; Hydrocyanic Acid Poisoning”. Ahead of my talk on the forensics of Agatha Christie in Torquay at the Agatha Festival, I’m re-posting this stomach specimen from our Medico-legal (i.e. forensic) collection. It was mounted by renowned British pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury, who also taught Morbid Anatomy at Bart’s for a while, and whose real-life cases feature repeatedly in Christie’s works. Spilsbury (1877-1947) was basically a celebrity during a time when there was no such thing as reality TV shows etc. He was known for his legendary court appearances in which he commanded attention, effortlessly ripped apart attempts to acquit the vilest murderers of the time and communicated with the public in a way no scientist had before. He was extremely intelligent and worked on some of the most famous murder cases of the era: Dr Crippen, “The Brides in the Bath” Murders, and “The Crumbles” Murders (which caused him to devise the crime-scene kit, including such basic equipment as pots for specimens and rubber gloves. It didn’t exist before Spilsbury). In more recent years, however, his inability to work with others or admit fault have come into question. This specimen is a stomach removed at post-mortem from a man who was poisoned with hydrocyanic acid (aka prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide),1932 #vintageforensics #forensics #forensicscience #vintage #truecrime #agathachristie #bernardspilsbury #crimescene #crime #pathologymuseum #wetspecimen #wetspecimens #specimenconservation
⚠️ A series of images of our specimens taken by photographer Scott Grummett. Tomorrow we have an open afternoon at the museum which sold out pretty much immediately, but we have another open day in September as part of Heritage Open Days and Open London. Keep an eye out here for the date tickets are available, or email [email protected] to be placed on the mailing list to hear first, 24 hours before social media #bartspathologymuseum #bartspathology #heritageopendays #openlondon #opencity
Something to think about when having a cocktail at the Halloween party… This is a lovely example of the top of a skull (the calvarium) carved decoratively to be used as a cup known as a Kapala. This one is from Tibet, photographed by Shizhao, and uploaded to Wikicommons. In Tibetan monasteries these were used to hold wine or bread for ceremonial purposes rather than everyday eating & drinking, so they were elaborately prepared and consecrated before use. The skull usually came from a deceased person who’d had a Sky Burial, still practiced today, which involves the dismembering and scattering of the remains to “give alms to the birds”, then retrieving the bones. (See my post on vultures for more about Sky Burial). It’s nearly Halloween but of course that holiday originated as a Pagan holiday, Samhain (pronounced sow-EN), and – during all pagan rituals – cakes and ale are part of the process, so a vessel like this would be apt for Samhain. Ritual tools like this have long been used for worship all over the world. #humanremains #halloweencountdown #carlaween #carlaweencountdown #remains2beseen #tibet #skyburial #kapala #halloween #samhain #skull #cakesandale
Gruß vom Krampus! (And from my office). Merry Krampusnacht to all those who celebrate 👹 I aways wear this @sixftditch_official sweatshirt on December 5th #krampusnacht #krampus #GetKramp
The ‘Carlaween’ countdown continues with “The Living Dead” 💀 I’ve been to Naples twice as it’s a fabulous destination for what’s known as Dark Tourism, so here are the two ‘anatomical machines’ in the Capella Sansevero. The skeletons – one male and one female – are known as ‘machines’ although they don’t actually move. It’s just that their bones and vessels have been preserved and replicated incredibly well, and they have additions (like the eyeballs), so they’re a bit more like ‘machine’ than man. The female is pregnant and there was also a foetus on display but it was stolen – sometime in the 1970s, I think. This Adam and Eve are both in glass cases which state they were made by Giuseppe Salerno in around 1764 and even after all these years historians don’t know exactly how the vessels were preserved. It’s thought that mercury was included in the injected substance which then hardened (as that was common in corrosion casts at the time) and the metallic element may be why they are called ‘machines’. However another theory is that they’re real skeletons wrapped in beeswax, iron wire, and silk. Either way they are astounding to look at and redolent of the Walking or Living Dead #humanremains #remains2beseen #anatomy #pathology #specimen #halloween #conservation #medicalmuseum #pathologymuseum #anatomymuseum #histmed #conservator #naples #anatomicalmachines #monstermonday #livingdead #walkingdead #thewalkingdead #halloweencountdown
It’s Halloween and skulls are apt, but I particularly love this dripping orange skull – it has a real vibe of candy melts. It’s one of many “Vanité aux Papillons” by French artist Philippe Pasqua 🦋 💀 From what I can gather, some of his pieces from the “Vanities” series are sculptures, but others are real skulls. His site says: “Another major aspect of Pasqua’s work lies in his series of Vanities’. The technique employed evokes that of the silver and goldsmiths of the Middle Ages working on a reliquary, and also some kind of shamanic ritual. He covers human skulls with gold or silver leaf. Sometimes, he covers them in skins and then tattoos them. Then there is the delicate stage where the skulls are decorated with preserved butterflies, with their outstretched wings and their iridescent colours: the light is refracted on their coloured, powdery surface, or falls into the deep shadows in the eye sockets. He also sometimes pours liquid paint in a thick stream that covers everything and submerges it.” As symbols, both the skull and butterflies are associated with death and mortality: the skull is an obvious one, and butterflies represent the soul, the passing of a loved one, and rebirth. At this time of year – approaching Samhain (pronounced SOW-en) – the veil between the living and the dead is supposedly at its thinnest, Check out his work – all the skulls are lovely and he was originally inspired by his friend Damien Hirst so if you’re a fan of his, you may like Pasqua #carlaween #carlaweencountdown #humanremains #artist #halloween #halloweencountdown #remains2beseen #skull #skulls #vanity #vanitas #butterfly #butterflies #humanskulls #butterflypreservation #goldleaf #philippepasqua
🫀 It’s February 1st which means it’s Valentine’s Month, and time to take a closer look at hearts (and related topics). I will be making videos during the working week, but while I’m at home I thought I’d post this. The image was used on the cover of ‘Leathers’ by @deftones, a single from the album ‘Koi No Yokan’. 🫀 It’s an arteriogram of a heart. The arteries are filled with an iodine contrast medium so that they show up on an X-ray. These examinations are usually performed to evaluate various vascular conditions, such as aneurysms (a bulging, weakened area in the wall of a blood vessel which can sometimes rupture with fatal consequences), stenosis (narrowing of a blood vessel), or blockages. Another name for this procedure is an angiogram. This looks like a healthy heart, however, which was just used for illustration purposes. The outline of the heart is seen. Both left and right coronary arteries are visible here, branching to supply blood to the heart muscle. These arteries follow the rounded shape of the heart so you can see it perfectly. 🫀 “Open your chest Look down, reach in Shedding your skin, showing your texture Time to let everything inside show” 🫀 #humanremains #valloween #pastmortems #heart #anatomy #arteriogram #angiogram #xray #pathology #valentinecountdown #bloodyvalentine #deftones #deftonesleathers #deftoneskoinoyokan
🫀 It’s February 1st which means it’s Valentine’s Month, and time to take a closer look at hearts (and related topics). I will be making videos during the working week, but while I’m at home I thought I’d post this. The image was used on the cover of ‘Leathers’ by @deftones, a single from the album ‘Koi No Yokan’. 🫀 It’s an arteriogram of a heart. The arteries are filled with an iodine contrast medium so that they show up on an X-ray. These examinations are usually performed to evaluate various vascular conditions, such as aneurysms (a bulging, weakened area in the wall of a blood vessel which can sometimes rupture with fatal consequences), stenosis (narrowing of a blood vessel), or blockages. Another name for this procedure is an angiogram. This looks like a healthy heart, however, which was just used for illustration purposes. The outline of the heart is seen. Both left and right coronary arteries are visible here, branching to supply blood to the heart muscle. These arteries follow the rounded shape of the heart so you can see it perfectly. 🫀 “Open your chest Look down, reach in Shedding your skin, showing your texture Time to let everything inside show” 🫀 #humanremains #valloween #pastmortems #heart #anatomy #arteriogram #angiogram #xray #pathology #valentinecountdown #bloodyvalentine #deftones #deftonesleathers #deftoneskoinoyokan
Just a quick vid to show why I’ve been MIA for a while. Been incredibly busy but have lots of videos planned on hearts! This is just to show before & after – longer videos about actual specimens and conservation coming soon #medicalmuseum #pathologymuseum #anatomymuseum #anatomicalmuseum #pathology #medicalstudent #mortician #wetspecimen #wetspecimenconservation
Aa I write about my time at Cimitero Delle Fontanelle for my new book, I couldn’t help but think these particular images had quite a “Valentine’s” look. What do you think? 🥀💀 #fontanellecemetery #cimiterodellefontanelle #naples #napoli #skulls #bones #valloween
This month I’m speaking at the @agathafestival about my book ‘Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie’! (Link in Linktree, above). If you’re in the Devon area or Torquay-bound this September, then come and see me on Friday 13th at 5:00pm as I chat about forensic science in Agatha Christie’s works, the real-life cases which inspired her, and the real detection of ‘The Detection Club’, of which Agatha Christie was president. There are so many good speakers, as usual, but I want to give a special shout out to Andrew Eames who is speaking on the same day at 10:00am. Twenty years ago he wrote a book called ‘The 8:55 to Baghdad’ about Agatha’s famous journey on the Orient Express which effectively changed her life and started her love affair with the Middle East. The book changed my life – it’s amazing. Hope to see lots of you there! 🔍 #agathasforensics #agathachristiesforensics #murderisnteasy #agathachristie #agathachristiefestival #torquay #torreabbey #orientexpress #forensicscience #historyofforensics #historyofforensicscience #histsci #fridaythe13th
This month I’m speaking at the @agathafestival about my book ‘Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie’! (Link in Linktree, above). If you’re in the Devon area or Torquay-bound this September, then come and see me on Friday 13th at 5:00pm as I chat about forensic science in Agatha Christie’s works, the real-life cases which inspired her, and the real detection of ‘The Detection Club’, of which Agatha Christie was president. There are so many good speakers, as usual, but I want to give a special shout out to Andrew Eames who is speaking on the same day at 10:00am. Twenty years ago he wrote a book called ‘The 8:55 to Baghdad’ about Agatha’s famous journey on the Orient Express which effectively changed her life and started her love affair with the Middle East. The book changed my life – it’s amazing. Hope to see lots of you there! 🔍 #agathasforensics #agathachristiesforensics #murderisnteasy #agathachristie #agathachristiefestival #torquay #torreabbey #orientexpress #forensicscience #historyofforensics #historyofforensicscience #histsci #fridaythe13th
This month I’m speaking at the @agathafestival about my book ‘Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie’! (Link in Linktree, above). If you’re in the Devon area or Torquay-bound this September, then come and see me on Friday 13th at 5:00pm as I chat about forensic science in Agatha Christie’s works, the real-life cases which inspired her, and the real detection of ‘The Detection Club’, of which Agatha Christie was president. There are so many good speakers, as usual, but I want to give a special shout out to Andrew Eames who is speaking on the same day at 10:00am. Twenty years ago he wrote a book called ‘The 8:55 to Baghdad’ about Agatha’s famous journey on the Orient Express which effectively changed her life and started her love affair with the Middle East. The book changed my life – it’s amazing. Hope to see lots of you there! 🔍 #agathasforensics #agathachristiesforensics #murderisnteasy #agathachristie #agathachristiefestival #torquay #torreabbey #orientexpress #forensicscience #historyofforensics #historyofforensicscience #histsci #fridaythe13th
This month I’m speaking at the @agathafestival about my book ‘Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie’! (Link in Linktree, above). If you’re in the Devon area or Torquay-bound this September, then come and see me on Friday 13th at 5:00pm as I chat about forensic science in Agatha Christie’s works, the real-life cases which inspired her, and the real detection of ‘The Detection Club’, of which Agatha Christie was president. There are so many good speakers, as usual, but I want to give a special shout out to Andrew Eames who is speaking on the same day at 10:00am. Twenty years ago he wrote a book called ‘The 8:55 to Baghdad’ about Agatha’s famous journey on the Orient Express which effectively changed her life and started her love affair with the Middle East. The book changed my life – it’s amazing. Hope to see lots of you there! 🔍 #agathasforensics #agathachristiesforensics #murderisnteasy #agathachristie #agathachristiefestival #torquay #torreabbey #orientexpress #forensicscience #historyofforensics #historyofforensicscience #histsci #fridaythe13th
I have my talk coming up at @oldoperatingtheatre this month and can’t wait! I realise it’s sold out, but drop me a comment below and if there’s interest I’ll do the same talk at our museum in a month or so. It’s a great presentation full of images and facts about ‘life & death behind mortuary doors’ with snippets from my ‘Mortem’ podcast on BBC Sounds, too. Remember you can also email me [email protected] to be put on our mailing list and hear about our events and open days before social media gets the news! 🫀 #pastmortems #pathology #mortuary #oldoperatingtheatre #pathologytalk #forensics #pathologymuseum #forensicpathology
The Carlaween Countdown continues with this, an “X-Ray Phantom”, which is a gorgeous medical specimen of a fully articulated human skull set in lucite. Lucite is a plastic (poly methyl methacrylate) and when it was first created in the 1940s/50s it became very popular in the manufacture of jewellery, accessories and furniture. It does go by the names acrylic, Plexiglass or Perspex and sheets of it make up our plastic ‘pots’ in the museum. This piece, however, utilises lucite as a resin which in that form is often used for animal preservation rather than humans. The above, however, is an X-ray phantom used for training and you can buy all sorts of these on the internet: hands, knee joints, pelvises etc. When X Rays were discovered around 1896 – the techs used their own hands etc to train on (in fact Rontgen, who discovered them, used his wife…but that’s in another post.) This use of living humans to test the rays led to serious physical complications and if I’ve not posted the sad story of our own Ernest Harnack yet I will soon. That’s why these phantoms were created. In my opinion, if I could take every teaching specimen from my collection at the museum (by which I mean those which are more recent, and kept on the upper floors) and entomb them in lucite resin it would be wonderful! No crappy acrylic/Perspex ‘visijars’ which leak fluid (Kaiserling III) from the joints. No evaporations of fluid through micropores in the plastic, no cloudiness or globules of flat which need to be removed/cleaned and no spontaneous explosions (due to high internal pressure). I LOVE LUCITE!!! Also, am I the only one who thinks “X-Ray Phantom” is a fabulous superhero name? ☠ #humanremains #lucite #carlaween #acrylic #plexiglass #perspex #visijars #specimen #specimens #wetspecimen #severedfoot #specimenconservation #technicalcurator #pathology #medicalmuseum #anatomy #halloweencountdown #halloween #carlaweencountdown
Those of you in the US will be able to watch one of the documentaries about @officialagathachristie that I was featured on a couple of years ago. ‘Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie’ is now showing on PBS and here is a clip of the trailer featuring yours truly! I love talking about Christie’s incredible knowledge of forensic science, so much so I had to write an entire book on it. ‘The Science of Murder’ was published in the US by @sourcebooks and was a @barnesandnoble monthly pick 🔎📚
Two tickets just opened up for our sold out forensic botany talk “Murder Most Florid” – November 27th, London, 6:30pm (link in stories) #forensic #forensicscience #forensics #ForensicBotany #murdermostflorid
📚✨🎄Day 13 of our Advent Calendar Gift Guide: Crime Reference Books! 🎄 🪦 A Tomb with a View – Peter Ross Award-winning writer Peter Ross explores fascinating graveyard tales from London’s outcast dead to gothic weddings in this mysterious journey through death’s hidden stories. 💀 Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses – Bess Lovejoy Follow famous corpses on their wild posthumous adventures across the globe, from Lincoln’s almost-stolen body to Einstein’s travelling brain! 🏥 Post Mortems: Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors – Carla Valentine Step behind mortuary doors with pathology tech Carla Valentine for fascinating anecdotes as she makes death her desk mate. 🔍 All that Remains – Sue Black Join forensic anthropologist Sue Black on her scientific journey through death where tragedy meets humour in cases as intriguing as the best crime novels. 🦴 Written in Bones – Sue Black Prof Dame Sue Black decodes the stories hidden in our bones, revealing how every part of us leaves traces waiting to be discovered. 🧊 The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetuated in the Name of Science – Sam Kean Follow 2,000 years of scientists gone rogue in pursuit of knowledge as brilliant minds from Cleopatra to Edison turn to the dark side. 🌍 From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World to Find the Good Death – Caitlin Doughty Join mortician Caitlin Doughty’s global expedition into death customs, exploring everything from sky burials to wish-granting skulls. 🐱 Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? – Caitlin Doughty A mortician answers kids’ most curious questions about death, exploring everything from space corpses to Viking funerals with humour and facts. 📱 Pop into the shop to grab your copies or DM to order online! The perfect books to cosy up with a glass of chianti 🍷 . . #truecrimecommunity #truecrimes #crimejunkie #truecrimefan #truecrimelover #truecrimejunkie #murderino #truecrimeaddict #unsolvedmysteries #truecrime #truecrimestories #myfavoritemurder #truecrimebooks #truecrimeallthetime #truecrimeobsessed #truecrimepodcast #truecrimepodcasts #murdermystery #forensicscience #investigativegeneticgenealogy
