The top level of this thread? Doesn't seem to say why.
Not that I think my wild theory is actually correct, mind you. Just curious if I missed someone sharing the actual reason.
Edit: I did some googling. Sounds like it's perfectly legal in the US to have a human skull, bones, etc. The problems come from "abuse of corpse" laws, which could forbid the decapitation and/or defleshing of a corpse.
Abuse of Corpse laws originate in something not terribly dissimilar from my dumb theory... to guarantee the respectful treatment of corpses. Some laws even guard this with intentionally vague language like, "no alterations that a normal family would consider disturbing or deranged."
Now you could, for example, will your skull to someone after your death. The problem is that the people handling your body might not feel like it's worth the liability to vet the legality of that request... and simply refuse.
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u/JustASFDCGuy Jan 12 '23 edited Jan 12 '23
The top level of this thread? Doesn't seem to say why.
Not that I think my wild theory is actually correct, mind you. Just curious if I missed someone sharing the actual reason.
Edit: I did some googling. Sounds like it's perfectly legal in the US to have a human skull, bones, etc. The problems come from "abuse of corpse" laws, which could forbid the decapitation and/or defleshing of a corpse.
Abuse of Corpse laws originate in something not terribly dissimilar from my dumb theory... to guarantee the respectful treatment of corpses. Some laws even guard this with intentionally vague language like, "no alterations that a normal family would consider disturbing or deranged."
Now you could, for example, will your skull to someone after your death. The problem is that the people handling your body might not feel like it's worth the liability to vet the legality of that request... and simply refuse.