Human remains sold on secret Instagram black market for thousands
HUMAN skulls and other bones are being sold for a mint across the UK as part of a sick new online trend. The remains are often decorated with faux tribal makeovers to help sell them on a ghastly market based on Instagram. One seller, Henry Scragg, has more than 34,000 followers on the photo-sharing app. […]
HUMAN skulls and other bones are being sold for a mint across the UK as part of a sick new online trend.
The remains are often decorated with faux tribal makeovers to help sell them on a ghastly market based on Instagram.
One seller, Henry Scragg, has more than 34,000 followers on the photo-sharing app.
And while your average Joe may see the practice as a little sinister, those within the community see it as simply an eccentric hobby.
“People outside of the community often see what we do as maybe a little disturbing,” Debbie Reynders, a Belgian collector and trader with almost 4,000 followers on Instagram, told Wired.
“But the people who collect and trade are really genuine people, open and lovely. But a bit guarded.”
Remarkably, trading human bones is technically legal in the UK, so Instagram has no obligation to shut the accounts down.
Sellers used to rely on eBay until the site banned the sale of human remains in 2016.
To trade bones or other artefacts, sellers will post a picture with hashtags like “#skull” or “#skeleton”, and a price in the comments below.
Buyers will then message the seller directly with offers, and if an agreement is made then the goods are packaged and shipped.
Research led by Stockholm University found in 2017 that the market is worth at least £46,000, and is growing year on year.
According to one researcher, the real figure is likely to be much higher – some items sell for upwards of £16,000.
Most of the bones that are traded – some of which have changed hands dozens of times – are like decommissioned medical or dentistry specimens.
According to Wired, some have been circulating from collector to collector for decades.
The trade has its murky origins in India, which was the centre for the trade of human remains under British colonial rule in the 19th Century.
Locals were pressured to ship cremated remains to England by medical institutions looking for cheap specimens for their students.
“Little thought was given to the way the bones were displayed and collected,” said Professor Samuel Redman, a historian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
“It was profoundly against the traditions of many of the peoples from whom they were taken.”
Criticisms have also been levelled at traders for giving skulls “traditional” or “tribal” decorations.
Feathers, seeds, gems and other additions meant to dress bones up as authentic tribal pieces is offensive, and constitutes cultural appropriation.
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What do you think of the grisly Instagram market? Let us know in the comments!
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