Grave robbing, grave robbery or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a tomb or crypt to steal the artifacts (as illicit antiquities) inside or disinterring a corpse to steal the body itself or its personal effects. Someone who engages in this act is a grave robber or tomb raider.
Grave robbing is the bane of art historians and archaeologists; countless precious grave sites and tombs have been robbed before scholars were able to examine them, resulting in the loss of historical finds. Similarly, Chinese jade burial suits were believed to be myths for many years until two were discovered in 1968; it is now believed that most jade burial suits were long ago removed by grave robbers. In China, grave robbing has a very long history, more than 2000 years ago. Many Warring States tombs, such as Chu tombs in Hubei, were robbed in antiquity. The Mawangdui Tomb Complex was partially robbed in the Tang Dynasty, when Tang pottery and a robber tunnel were uncovered in the excavation of Tomb No. 3.
In medieval and renaissance Europe, students of medicine and of art were reported to have stolen corpses from morgues, private houses, and cemeteries to assist in their study of anatomy.[1] Michelangelo, the Renaissance painter and sculptor, was known for stealing bodies from morgues in order to study human anatomy to perfect his artwork; however, this would more likely be considered a case of body snatching than grave robbery. His rival Leonardo da Vinci was also known for this same practice.
Another type of grave robber, especially in Brazil and other South American countries, is called "dentista da meia-noite" (midnight dentistry), specialised in breaking into mausoleums to steal gold teeth of the deceased. In early decades of the 20th century this kind of crime was "epidemic" in these countries, as cemeteries lacked security or even walls.
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