Body snatching
Secret removal of corpses from burial sites
Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from the burial site itself. The term 'body snatching' most commonly refers to the removal and sale of corpses primarily for the purpose of dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. The term was coined primarily in regard to cases in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. However, there have been cases of body snatching in many countries, with the first recorded case in Europe dating back to 1319 in Bologna, Italy. The first recorded case in China dates back to 506 BC, when Wu Zixu dug up the corpse of King Ping of Chu to whip his corpse.
The public source identifies “Body snatching” as secret removal of corpses from burial sites. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Body, snatching and Secret.
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This entry incorporates text from “Body snatching” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.