Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/01/why-did-some-graves-used-to-have-metal-cages-over-them.html
…
2 Likes
Does anyone know how much of the structure extends underground/how it is anchored?
When the attacker already has to excavate out enough to be able to extract the coffin(or punch through a weak spot and pull the occupant out, if the state of the body allows that) I’m a little puzzled by how much additional inconvenience the cage structure would impose unless it went particularly deep or was anchored in such a way that you either had to excavate a parallel shaft and then come in under it or remove a lot of surface material in order to be able to flip it over.
I’m definitely no expert at exhuming things generally or the dead in particular, and my weedy little knowledge-worker arms can testify to that; so perhaps I’m failing to recognize an inconvenience that someone who knows digging holes would recognize immediately; but (while it probably wouldn’t be the first time for a funeral industry upsell) the naïve impression is that the metal to actual inconvenience ratio doesn’t look particularly favorable.
5 Likes
If you find this kind of thing interesting, I would recommend giving the Lore podcast a listen: https://www.lorepodcast.com/ They’ve covered a lot of history around “resurrection men”.
1 Like
Was wondering the same thing, but the linked article has a picture of some out of the ground. Looks like a foot or so. I’m guessing it’s not the depth that’s the deterrent, but the extra work. If I have a choice between digging up a normal grave and one that’s going to take me 2-3x as long, I would assume my grave-digging self would chose the unguarded one in this case.
1 Like
Gotta figure that “grave robbing” is a job that you want to complete as quickly and quietly as possible. Although I suppose the residents there aren’t likely to raise much of a fuss.
3 Likes
Sort of a dark alternative framing to “I don’t have to be faster than the bear, I just have to be faster than you.”
4 Likes
I would want that thing to be just lousy with bells and chimes. Really make a fuss out of the grave robbing or get a nice noisy zombie.
2 Likes
It could just be like a deterrent. Like does a lock really stop someone determined to break in? No. But if the fresh grave down the row doesn’t have a cage around it, then the grave with a cage is going to be passed up for the easier one.
2 Likes
The Bloody Code was law at the time.
And if you were executed then you would be dissected instead.
1 Like
Apart from being partially buried they were also heavy. So heavy that there was a device to lift them
1 Like
3 Likes
4 Likes
While on a scavenger hunt in PA, Hooded Grave Cemetery was one spot we had to find. It seemed very creepy and serene at the same time.
2 Likes
In the USA, we had a more enlightened approach to medical cadavers, that didn’t rely on grave-robbing. We used homeless people*. (Something I expect will come back into fashion now that the Supreme Court has criminalized homelessness. I expect the next step will be to allow vivisection as a non-cruel or unusual punishment for the unhoused sometime soon.)
*I will forever remember a story my grandfather told me about a college anatomy lesson, circa 1916, courtesy of some poor “hobo” who happened to die in the area. This was at a rural agricultural school (that would eventually become UC Davis) where any study of anatomy was purely for veterinary purposes. I got the impression human anatomy wasn’t a normal part of the curriculum, but some homeless guy died in the county, so they got a body to play with as a special treat.
3 Likes
It’s to stop Faraday vampires from rising.
2 Likes
I was thinking someone was spinning in their grave so fast, the electromagnetic field was intefering with people’s reception?
4 Likes
I mean, if one was prepared correctly, a good grave-spinner could be employed as a new form of green energy.
Salt and burn my body.
Maybe a little garlic & pepper; just to be safe.
4 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
