Buying and selling of human beings skeleton it may be legal depending on where the skeleton comes from and where it is sold. The most popular and sought-after part of the human skeleton is the skull, the price of which goes up to several tens of thousands of dollars. Skulls with various pathological changes, injuries, trophy skulls from Asia, skulls with artificial deformations, reduced or mummified skulls (known as shrunken heads), which mostly come from Amazon. Then long bones such as femur, humerus and tibia were sought, which range from 50 to several hundred dollars, or thousands of dollars for carvings. Price teeth, hand and foot bones, vertebrae, ribs and other smaller bones ranges from 20 to several hundred dollars.
Why are human bones bought? In the past and today, they are bought by collectors, occultists, artists, but also those who deal with medicine and science, often unaware of legal and ethical dilemmas. The problem is that human skeletons are often treated as artifacts - objects or works of art, rather than as former human beings. That is why they end up in collections of curiosities as if they were just - an object.
Trade in human skeletal remains is a living practice today, primarily in the United States and Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain). Trade can be done online through specialized galleries, auction houses and private buyers on social networks and e-commerce platforms. The first online trades in human remains appeared on eBay around 2002/2003. year, and the ban on this type of trade was implemented only in July 2016.
To understand the roots of this practice, it is important to look back at its historical development. Calcutta, India, was the center of the world trade in human bones for about 200 years. During colonial times, British doctors hired thieves to dig up remains from graves. India became the world's largest exporter, sending an estimated 60.000 skeletons abroad in 1984 alone. Many of the people whose bones were sold came from poor communities that could not afford cremation or burial, while others were stolen from cemeteries.
India remained Britain's main supplier until a scandal in 1985 when it was revealed that 1500 skeletons belonged to children, further raising fears of abductions and murders. The black market trade in human bones from India continued despite an official ban in 1986 due to rumors that traders were killing people for their bones. After that, Russia and China tried to fill the gaps in the market, which was banned by China in 2008. At the beginning of the 21st century, the sale and purchase of human bones was banned in many countries, although it still takes place through modern forms of communication.
Today, popular examples are companies like Skulls Unlimited from Oklahoma and JonsBones from New York with more than a million followers on Instagram. Both claim that they procure the bones legally, and that they mostly come from a period when it was allowed in India, China or Russia, or from present-day donors. However, not everyone can buy them - Skulls Unlimited asks you to prepare proof that you are a medical expert, academician, professor, etc. in order to market them.
An additional challenge is the fact that trade is increasingly taking place in closed Facebook groups. There is a whole subculture of collectors on Instagram and TikTok who, under the hashtags #oddities and #realhumanbones, exchange and sell human bones that often fly under the radar of algorithms because they are presented as art or for education even though there are real transactions behind them. And even those posts that clearly say "real human bones for sale" #realhumanbonesforsale go unnoticed because they don't seem to violate the platform's rules.
Several foreign researchers deal with this topic through projects (BABAO, ACCO), because as much as the trade in human skeletal remains seems legal and they are often bought for scientific purposes, the question of ethics, methods of treatment, loopholes in the law, but above all where the bones really come from, arises. Significant demand has led to the excavation of modern cemeteries, even archaeological sites, or something even worse. This is also pointed out by Professor Sean Graham of Carleton University, who researches this topic as part of the ACCO project: "People involved in the trade will often claim that it is completely legal to buy and sell human remains. The truth is more complex - various laws deal with the buying and selling of human remains, but often with very specific caveats. In other cases, some laws may be valid but have never been enforced in court. While costume traders say the trade is legal, it is more correct to say that there are huge loopholes that allow trade to flourish”.
There are no federal laws in the US that prohibit the purchase and sale of human skeletal remains (except in Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana). The only legal consequences that exist are when sellers violate the provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Also, there is no law in Canada that prohibits the trade in human remains of any kind. In Great Britain, the trade in human remains is in a gray area because the law does not regulate the origin of skeletons. Prohibitions exist for illegal excavation of modern graves and from archaeological sites, but not for trade in already excavated remains.
In the Law on Cultural Property of the Republic of Serbia, human skeletal remains are not treated as cultural property. The Law on Cemeteries also does not recognize skeletons from archaeological sites. We sent an email to the RS Customs Administration, which replied that they have no such cases recorded. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS has not answered us at the time of writing whether there have been cases of trafficking in skeletal remains from archaeological sites or modern cemeteries. We have contacted experts to see if similar cases can occur here. Dr. Ilija Danković from the Archaeological Institute who works in Viminacium says that, although there is no direct information about the trade in human remains, the problem exists in a broader sense through the destruction of graves and a careless attitude towards the remains. "I have no direct experience with cases of trafficking in human skeletal remains. However, during my field work I have repeatedly witnessed destroyed graves and carelessly scattered human remains, which indicates the level of disrespect and lack of respect shown by site robbers towards these remains," says Danković.
He points out that human remains are not only scientifically but also culturally significant, as they bear witness to past populations, customs and ways of life. "Illegal trade in human remains is a serious threat to archeology because it leads to an irreversible loss of context - without accurate data on the location, layer and accompanying findings, the remains lose almost all scientific value," he explains. Dr. Ilija Danković also emphasizes the ethical aspect. "Site robbers destroy grave units and handle human remains in a highly undignified manner. Ironically, those who desecrate graves in this way often use arguments about the 'immorality' of archaeological research, even though excavations are carried out according to clearly defined ethical and professional principles."
The trade in human bones is a relatively small but global problem with profound ethical and legal implications. It is a neglected segment of the international antiquities trade, but above all it is proof that human remains are treated as commodities on the market.
