The Bone Museum
I’m fairly certain about my career path in primates and social evolution but there are some moments where I see something really cool and the tiny raccoon hands of interest get the better of me. And the Bone Museum in Brooklyn, NY is one of those things. After all, I used to want to be a forensic anthropologist just like Temperance Brennan in Bones. I even took a summer class and solved a fake murder using “bone” remains. This is definitely something I’m itching to pursue and it doesn’t take that much urging to get my racoon hands interested.
The Bone Museum devotes itself to the history of medical osteology (the study and preservation of human bones) and strives to make this interesting collection free and accessible to the public! The museum’s extensive collection includes full human skeletons, a wall of spines, and fascinating examples of medical anomalies. Their collection also includes centuries old specimens and some human bones used in ritualistic situations like sacrifices and early religious practices!
This museum, which is a fairly new investment, is the only bone museum on the East Coast! They buy and sell various bones (with certification that they were used for legal medical work) and share their specimens with the public. One of their Instagram reels talks about how an odd number of people find human bones, sometimes full skeletons, in the attics of their deceased loved ones and need somewhere to donate or sell the bones to, enter: the Bone Museum. Some of these bones were used in medical education but others might have been inherited from fraternities or other societies that pass on these items as part of initiation or some sort of heirloom.
The Bone Museum also has a variety of internships and works with anthropology students from all sorts of educational backgrounds. This would be a phenomenal opportunity to learn the ins and outs of biological/forensic anthropology and the skeleton. They have examples of syphilis, bone implants and surgeries, bone deformities and diseases (like scoliosis and polio), and any other sort of wear and tear you can imagine that would happen to the human body. If anyone wanted to take me on a trip this would be the place. You can follow the Bone Museum on Instagram at jonsbones for educational and entertaining content! I really recommend checking them out–it’s a great account for some midnight education in case you need something to scroll through! I got so excited when I saw their post about modern human adaptations (people-including me-who are born without wisdom teeth due to the softening of human diet and the shrinking of the mandible) that I woke up my brother. He was not as amused about modern human adaptions as I was…
Something about being able to investigate all the little imperfections and alterations on bones that show people’s life history is so fascinating to me. Especially considering the change our skeleton has undergone since we left the trees and even more so throughout the history of human existence. So many of these specimens can be related to important moments in our morphology history and the Bone Museum is an easily accessible way to study it. Turning over centuries old remains in gloved hands just gives me a sense of nostalgia and even though I’ve never actually done it before, it feels as if all the anthropology gods are smiling down at me. Is it the Bones obsession that started my love for biological anthropology? Probably yes. Are bones and forensic anthropology what I’m actively pursuing? No, but still. Please put the bones in my properly gloved hands (with proper supervision and conditioned environment of course). I am a rule follower if nothing else.
This would be an amazing opportunity and is something I am actively trying to pursue! Also they have some really cute stickers and when I go I will be buying all of them. So with all the introductions over, will you go with me?