Buzz
Death is a certainty for all, but not every body finds its final resting place in a grave or urn. Some become landmarks, mummies, art displays, or even enchanted relics. The fates of these remains are often much more peculiar than expected.
Here are 10 odd ways human remains have existed outside of the grave…
10. Paint Pigment
In the 16th century, there was a booming trade in mummies, often looted from tombs and sold to the wealthy. Professional 'mummy traders' could be found peddling their goods in the streets of Egypt. Some collectors would acquire a full mummy for a unique 'unwrapping party,' while others preferred smaller portions for their private collections.
Ground-up mummies had already been used in medicine, so it didn’t seem all that unusual when artists began incorporating the pigment into their paintings. Mummy Brown, a deep hue derived from powdered mummies, was valued for its ability to create shading, flesh tones, and shadows. However, the pigment eventually fell out of favor as many found the idea of using human remains for paint unsettling. There’s even a story about the artist Burne-Jones who held a burial ceremony for a tube of Mummy Brown after discovering its contents.
It is believed that Eugene Delacroix's famous painting, Liberty Leading the People, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris, may have been created using Mummy Brown.
9. Book Binding
Anthropodermic bibliopegy refers to the practice of binding books with human skin instead of regular leather. One notable case involves Dr. John Stockton Hough of Philadelphia, who preserved skin from the corpse of Mary Lynch, a 28-year-old woman who died of tuberculosis in his care. He tanned her skin and used it to bind three books about female and reproductive health.
The Bristol Record Office in the UK holds a book detailing the crime and execution of John Horwood. Horwood, who became obsessed with a local woman named Eliza Balsum/Balsam, tragically killed her by throwing a stone that crushed her skull. As a result, he became the first person hanged at Bristol Jail. His body was publicly dissected after the execution, and his skin was used to bind the book. A similar fate befell William Burke (of the notorious Burke and Hare), whose skin was used to bind a pocketbook now housed at the Royal College of Surgeons Museum in Edinburgh.
8. Diamond from a Corpse
Humans are made up of about 20% carbon, which means that the ashes from cremation can be used to create industrial diamonds. The process starts by chemically isolating and filtering carbon from the cremated remains. This mixture is then purified to remove nitrogen, which can cause the diamond to take on a yellow or brown tint. The purified carbon is placed into a high-pressure, high-temperature environment (around 60,000 bar and 1800 degrees Celsius), mimicking the conditions that naturally form diamonds. If successful, the result is a clear diamond, often blue in color due to the presence of boron in human ashes.
For those looking for a more affordable posthumous option, another choice is to have your ashes incorporated into glass. This can then be molded into a decorative piece, such as a bauble, that can be kept by loved ones.
7. Displayed in Body Worlds
Somewhere between an art installation and an anatomy lesson, Body Worlds by Dr. Gunther von Hagens features human cadavers that are plasticized, partially dissected, and posed in dynamic positions. Skinless athletes might be displayed alongside a horse and rider frozen mid-jump, or a delicate web of blood vessels could outline the body of a rabbit that once carried them.
To preserve the bodies, preservatives are introduced into the circulatory system, sterilizing the remains and halting the natural decay process. After this, skin, fat, and connective tissues are removed, and the body is submerged in a freezing acetone bath. The acetone replaces any remaining water and fat within the cells. The body is then immersed in a liquid polymer bath and placed under a vacuum. The low pressure causes the acetone to evaporate, and in its place, the polymer fills the cells. Finally, the cadaver is carefully posed and ‘hardened’ with gas, light, or heat to set the polymer.
While Body Worlds asserts that each cadaver was voluntarily donated, there is some controversy surrounding the display of human bodies in this manner. An even greater concern is Dr. Hagens' reluctance to provide clear documentation linking the displayed bodies to their original donors.
6. The Self-Mummification Ritual
At least 17 Japanese monks have succeeded in mummifying themselves, following the example of the 9th-century Buddhist monk Kūkai. It is said that Kūkai entered such a profound meditative state that it seemed as though life had left his body. According to legend, Kūkai would later return to aid others in achieving nirvana.
Monks who follow Kūkai’s example typically spend over three years performing the ritual, subsisting on a diet of foraged nuts, berries, bark, and roots from Mount Yudono. This starvation diet reduces the body's fat and muscle. Eventually, the monk stops even this meager nourishment, surviving on only small amounts of water while meditating. They may also drink a toxic tea brewed from the urushi tree, which causes vomiting and further dehydration. Finally, the monk enters a small tomb and waits for death in the darkness. Each morning, the monk rings a bell to signal that they are still alive; the tomb is sealed when the bell ceases to sound.
When the tomb is opened years later, the monk’s body is examined for signs of decay. While few monks remain perfectly preserved, those who do are considered to have entered a state of deep meditation that transcends death, often being honored in a place of prominence within a shrine.
From a scientific viewpoint, the bodies of these monks are dehydrated and lack both nutrients and fat. This absence makes them less appealing to the insect larvae and bacteria that typically decompose human remains. Additionally, toxins from the urushi tea help preserve the corpse. Researchers have also found that a sacred spring on Mount Yudono, frequented by the monks, has high levels of arsenic, which contributes to the body’s preservation by warding off decomposers. Interestingly, arsenic was historically used for embalming corpses.
Another example can be found in the village of Gue in the Tibetan Himalayas. Sangha Tenzin is the 500-year-old self-mummified body of a Tibetan monk who appears to have followed a ritual similar to that of Kūkai. High levels of nitrogen in his body suggest prolonged fasting, and his body is still held in place by the remains of a meditation belt.
5. Hand of Glory
The Hand of Glory is a gruesome artifact featured in European folklore, particularly in England. To create one, the hand must be severed from a hanged criminal while still on the gallows, then pickled. A candle made from human fat is placed inside the hand (or in some versions, the candle is placed in the fingers themselves), granting the possessor various supernatural abilities. Depending on the tale, the Hand of Glory could unlock any door, alert the bearer to nearby witnesses, or even induce a coma-like sleep in anyone in the house while it burned. It was said that only blood, blue (skimmed) milk, or the passage of time could extinguish the flame.
The myth of the Hand of Glory may have originated from a mistranslation by the semi-literate criminals of the Middle Ages. Some of the abilities attributed to it are also linked to mandragore (mandrake) roots, and in French, the term for Hand of Glory is main de gloire.
4. Mount Everest Landmark
As the ice on Mount Everest begins to melt, an alarming number of bodies are being uncovered. It is estimated that more than 300 people have perished while attempting the climb, and many of these bodies were never recovered. However, as glaciers recede and ice thins, those once hidden are now emerging once again.
Some of these lost souls have become markers for climbers, such as the infamous “Green Boots,” a climber whose feet stick out from a small cave near the summit. Those following the northern route would encounter this chilling sight year after year. There’s also the ironically named “Rainbow Valley” located around 8,000 meters (5 miles) up, in the perilous “Death Zone,” where the body can no longer cope with the lack of oxygen. The area is filled with vibrant climbing gear still clinging to the bodies that have frozen into the ice.
3. Planted on a Corpse Farm
Body farms are specialized areas dedicated to studying the decomposition of human bodies, serving as a crucial resource for forensic science. Cadavers may be placed on the ground, submerged in water, buried in shallow graves, or housed in sheds, with each “death” scenario providing vital clues when comparing remains from actual crime scenes. As the body decays, bacteria and liquefied tissue seep into the surrounding soil, promoting the growth of other bacteria, plants, and fungi. These biological indicators help refine the estimation of time of death, which is a key element in modern crime-solving.
The process of decomposition can also create some odd “injuries” on both human and animal bodies, such as what appear to be surgical incisions, blood loss, or the removal of soft tissues. A series of “cattle mutilations” seemed so convincing that the FBI launched an investigation into affected cattle found on American farms, initially suspecting cults or human involvement (though some even suggested UFOs, for those inclined to such theories).
By observing decomposition firsthand, forensic experts can identify the signs of natural death versus those resulting from murder, aiding in the resolution of cases that would otherwise remain unsolved.
2. Smoked Mummy Party Guest
The Anga people of the Aseki region in Papua New Guinea once preserved their deceased in a manner that might seem quite unusual to outsiders. They mummified them in clay and displayed them on racks, positioned to face the world. The corpses were smoked in a dedicated hut for several months before being coated in red clay to shield them from the elements and help them retain their posture. These mummified bodies are still displayed in shrines perched on the cliffs in the area.
Many in the local community believe that the mummies can offer guidance to their descendants, and some Anga people even hold the belief that a person who isn’t properly respected after death might come back to cause trouble. As a result, the mummies are sometimes brought into the village during celebrations to ensure their spirit feels involved, preventing it from causing harm by sabotaging crops or scaring away game.
1. Expert Witness
Cruentation was an unusual court practice in which the accused had to stand before the body of the deceased victim. It was believed that if the corpse began to bleed or leak fluid, it indicated the presence of the murderer. The Ordeal of the Bier by Jenő Gyárfás, painted in 1881, uses cruentation as the central theme of the artwork.
While it’s extremely unlikely for blood to remain in a corpse for days or even weeks, the fluids resulting from decomposition could leak from the body or an open wound. In a crowded courtroom, the handling of the body during its transport (or even the slow release of gases from decaying flesh) could have caused liquid to flow from the mouth or wounds. Cruentation was still practiced in 19th-century America, as evidenced by the 1869 Illinois case where 200 people were forced to touch a pair of victims.
