Human remains trade spreads in the UK – experts urge stricter laws

For example, in the shop of Henry Scragg in Essex, skulls, shrunken heads, masks made of human skin and wallets can be purchased. According to the owner, his products come from ethical sources, but experts say that the trade in human remains is often based on grave robbery and the looting of crypts.

The peculiarity of the legal situation is that the desecration of graves and exhumation are punishable, but the remains themselves are not considered property, so they cannot technically be “stolen” or possessed. As a result, it is not explicitly illegal to trade human bones or body parts, even if they were obtained through criminal means.

Experts interviewed by the Guardian are therefore urging stricter legislation. Trish Biers, an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge and head of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO) working group, described the current regulations as an unprecedented contradiction:

“I need permission to work with remains for scientific purposes, and I can’t even photograph human remains that are less than a hundred years old in the pathology department. But turning a child’s spine into a bag handle is perfectly legal. I just don’t understand that.”

Experts say lawmakers should make it clear that human remains should not be commercialized and should not be used for decorative or sensational purposes.