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Quantentheorie t1_itcd5w0 wrote

Reply to comment by MajorGeneralInternet in Human 'bog bones' discovered at Stone Age campsite in Germany by wishywashy9101

this is a thought that has crossed my mind a couple of times seeing full roman skeletons presented in a museum; laid out under glas in their sarcophagus to just... look at.

Not that I personally would mind if it were mine. But its a weird conflict because the reason this is "fine" is that they're just bones, not people, their identities and in any real way something intimate and private - but the only real reason we display old skeletons like this (which are completely ordinary modern human skeletons in most regards) is also because we're fascinated and interested in the fact that this used to be a person that walked, talked and had a life.

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berry90 t1_itcprnq wrote

I remember going to a museum when I was younger where they had a skeleton on display. They had a little video display with an actor portraying the skeleton.

It was interesting because it seems that the person died from a head injury. It could have been an assault, it could have been a fall. We'll never know. Just another human story lost to time, kind of. We have the body, and we can make assumptions from the burial, but we'll never really know.

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skyblueandblack t1_itd4vjl wrote

At the La Brea Tar Pits, there's a display case with the bones of a woman that was discovered there. It's a holographic display, though, so as you move past it, you see her how she might have looked thousands of years ago.

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xiaorobear t1_itd7b0e wrote

Just a funny little trivia fact, "la brea" means "the tar," so writing out the La Brea Tar Pits is like writing 'the the tar tar pits.'

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NakatasCat t1_itd89hl wrote

The Los Angeles Angels

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Odie_Odie t1_itemgxb wrote

The Angels Angels of Anaheim. They were the Anaheim Angels seventeen years ago, what an unfortunate change.

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SillyFlyGuy t1_itdces6 wrote

Just around the corner from The La Brea Tar Pits is an automatic ATM machine where you use your personal PIN number.

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MrWhite t1_ite70y1 wrote

"Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence" Boys

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Holychilidog t1_itfqsos wrote

Ah yes, the plaque pits it is. The place is bad for your teeth.

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FunkrusherPlus t1_itfjxpy wrote

There are ways forensic anthropologists and osteologists can determine cause of death by studying other details of the skeleton. Even old ancient ones.

ie. If there’s an injury on the skull and also damaged bones in the arms and hands, one can determine that the person was assaulted and died. If there’s an injury on the skull and fractured spine but no signs of struggle it’s possible the person died falling off a horse. These are overly simplified examples — the experts can take a million things into account just by studying the bones and come to solid conclusions with evidence to back it up.

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gabriel1313 t1_itcvat2 wrote

What was the name of the clown in Hamlet whose skull was held while being rumina te d upon in the same way? Such an interesting line of thought

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25hourenergy t1_itcwo9h wrote

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow

of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath

borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how

abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at

it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know

not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your

gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment,

that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one

now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?

Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let

her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must

come; make her laugh at that.

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the_YellowRanger t1_itfu26k wrote

When i see skeletons it makes me wonder; if reincarnation was real, would i know it if i ever saw my old skeleton on display?

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Quantentheorie t1_itfuufs wrote

without the rules of the reincarnation specifically outfitting you with that feature, I don't see how. Its not like we're usually able to identify any part of our body by any means other than our known senses.

Heck, I've had a limb fall asleep, then wondered who's f*ing arm this is often enough to know I can fail to recognise my own body part while its still attached to me.

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Bervaa t1_itfmh2q wrote

We’re all just pieces of the same body, flares of the same fire

1