The Human Bone Collection of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong: History and description of cranial and postcranial skeletal remains

Abstract

Objectives: The present work describes the status and contents of The Human Bone Collection of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong. Materials and methods: The Collection originates from the 1980s and became officially established in 2017 for teaching and research purposes. Most of the Collection consists of unclaimed human remains of southern Chinese individuals exhumed from local cemeteries and donated to the Faculty in the last few decades. The demographic information was provided largely from burial records and forensic estimations. Since 2016, the Collection has undergone a process of reorganization into cranial and postcranial remains, followed by preservation procedures that included cleaning and classification. Results: The Collection currently consists of remains belonging to about 368 individuals (243 males, 54 females, 71 unknown), with ages ranging from 0.8 to 90 years (mean 57.4 years). It comprises cranial remains belonging to 260 individuals(169 males, 39 females, 52 unknown), and postcranial remains belonging to 248 individuals (180 males, 42 females, 26 unknown). The preservation status ranges from poor to good, with the cranial remains better preserved than the postcranial elements. For a large number of individuals, ear ossicles, soil samples, and other materials are also available.Discussion: The Collection is accessible to local and international institutions for teaching and research.

Incorporating a structural vulnerability framework into the forensic anthropology curriculum

“…Particularly, there is a notable lack of donated Asian populations within skeletal collections, and those collections that do exist are often historical in nature or small in sample size [ [65] , [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] , [70] ]. Although including more cadavers of color will help mitigate the erasure of marginalized groups, it is not enough to simply add these individuals.…”

The Scientific Profiles of Documented Collections via Publication Data: Past, Present, and Future Directions in Forensic Anthropology

“…The ethical issues raised in these publications, for example, mostly address the need to guarantee the confidentiality of the personal information disposed of, and the anonymization of the data, or the data availability upon request (e.g., [57][58][59]). The issue of dignity and respect towards the dead and good research practices are also addressed (e.g., [20,60,61]). Some collections extend the concern for dignity and respect towards the dead towards the living relatives.…”

The Zagreb Skull Collection—The unique identified collection of human skulls from fetuses to centenarians

“…Around the world there are several large skeletal collections that can be divided into: (a) Collections derived from cadavers donated to anatomical departments such as the Robert J. Terry Collection, Hamann‐Todd Collection, and Raymond A. Dart Collection (Dayal et al, 2009; Giraudi et al, 1984; Hunt & Albanese, 2005; L'Abbe et al, 2005; Techataweewan et al, 2017); and (b) collections derived from cemeteries/burial sites (Belcastro et al, 2017; Cardoso, 2006; Carrara et al, 2018; Cattaneo et al, 2018; Chi‐Keb et al, 2013; Cunha et al, 2018; de Carvalho et al, 2020; Eliopouios et al, 2007; Ferreira et al, 2014, 2021; Go et al, 2017; Rissech & Steadman, 2011; Salceda et al, 2012; Sanabria‐Medina et al, 2017; Savoldi et al, 2021). However, only a precious few skeletal collections contain specimens from the fetal period (Aleman et al, 2012).…”