Archaeological evidence for 18th-century medical practice in the Old Town of Edinburgh: excavations at 13 Infirmary Street and Surgeons' Square.

Metadata

Title:

Issue:

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 126

Series:

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Volume:

126 (2)

Page Start/End:

929 - 941

Downloads:

126_929_941.pdf (851 kB) :

Download

Licence Type:

ADS Terms of Use and Access

Publication Type:

Journal

Abstract:

Articulated human skeletons and disarticulated bones recovered in 1993 from excavations in the area of the former Lady Yester's Kirkyard showed clear evidence of post-mortem dissection. They are identified as the `unclaimed' dead buried by the Royal Infirmary in the second half of the eighteenth century. There was evidence for post-mortem tooth removal from all the dentitions recovered during the excavation, probably for the manufacture of sets of false teeth. A further assemblage of human bones, found in 1988 adjacent to eighteenth/nineteenth-century anatomy schools formed part of a teaching collection from the schools.

Author:

David Henderson
Mark Collard
Daniel A Johnston

Year of Publication:

1996

Subjects / Periods:

Human Skeletons (Auto Detected Subject)

Schools (Auto Detected Subject)

1988 (Auto Detected Temporal)

Disarticulated Bones (Auto Detected Subject)

Human Bones (Auto Detected Subject)

Eighteenth Century (Auto Detected Temporal)

Postmortem Tooth (Auto Detected Subject)

Source:

ADS Archive (ADS Archive)

Relations:

Created Date:

20 Jan 2002

Henderson, D., Collard, M. and Johnston, D. A. (1996). Archaeological evidence for 18th-century medical practice in the Old Town of Edinburgh: excavations at 13 Infirmary Street and Surgeons' Square.. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 126. Vol 126(2), pp. 929-941.

Follow us