Skull found at Gettyburg to be auctioned

mojaveman · 06-02-2014, 20:30

The skull of a Civil War soldier and military relics found near the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, battlefield are scheduled to be sold at an auction on Tuesday, to the dismay of some historians.

I'm kind of dismayed too. Very sacrilegious in my opinion. I hope the high bidder ends up having nightmares after he takes it home. In all seriousness, I guess there were no federal protections 60 years ago when the skull was found and removed from the battlefield.

http://news.yahoo.com/skull-civil-wa...191752730.html

Hacksaw · 06-02-2014, 20:42

I hope that whoever buys it does the right thing and has the man buried in a veterans cemetery.

NurseTim · 06-02-2014, 20:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

I hope that whoever buys it does the right thing and has the man buried in a veterans cemetery.

Exactly. This would be the class thing to do.

**PRB** · 06-02-2014, 21:36

Interesting TV show on 'Death During the Civil War'.
There was no official way to deal with bodies. Many just rotted in place. There were so many unburied KIA's at Shiloh that bone scavengers worked the fields for years after selling the bones for soap rendering.
If you had money the family might get someone to ship the bodies home...if they knew who/where they were located as there was no identification means.
I have two relatives buried in Michigan that were killed at Shiloh, how they got home I have no idea.....or if it is really their bodies for that matter.

**PRB** · 06-02-2014, 21:48

More like you had a few friends and exchanged info so if you were killed they could write someone and tell them from what I understand.
I'm surprised a skull was kept as a 'souvenir' and is being sold as such.
I hope it is properly interred in some fashion.

JJ_BPK · 06-03-2014, 04:53

This is a strange subject.

There are US federal laws protecting native American remains, but nothing for the rest of us.

I suspect part of the problem is that medical colleges have historically used human cadavers for both research & education.

Additionally circus side-shows have had bits-n-peices forever.

Then there are the museums & private collectors.

Some states have laws on the possession, sale, & display of artifacts, but rarely enforced..

Outside the USA, Many countries will go to the UN Hague courts to reprocess what they perceive as their countryman's remains. An example: Egyptian is always trying to repatriate their mummy's, as has several of the SA counties.

cbtengr · 06-03-2014, 12:17

If indeed they think this is the skull of a CW vet the local Sons of Confederate Veterans or the Sons of Union Veterans of the CW should be raising all kinds of hell. This is Bullshit!

cbtengr · 06-03-2014, 12:38

Common sense prevails! Sale was stopped.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/03...cmp=latestnews