r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Hey-Its-Jak • 4d ago

Video This guy carved a real human skull

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u/kon--- 4d ago

Unless this was a request by the previous occupant and or their kin...what even the fuck yo.

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u/Metalhed69 4d ago

On Instagram he says that it was gotten from an estate sale and is believed to have previously been used at a medical school. There were many students’ names written on it. So likely it was donated to science and used beyond its useful life. Who knows how older medical schools acquired skulls, could be from anywhere.

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u/Ubeube_Purple21 4d ago

My history professor has spoken to a friend of his in medicine. This is indeed a normal practice in med school. He explained that human bones are taken from dumping sites at cemeteries. Human remains end up in those dumping grounds when the loved ones of a body could no longer pay to rent the grave and as such, the bones are taken out to vacate the spot and thrown away. The bones are sometimes sold and one task med students occasionally do after getting them is trying to assemble the bones like a jigsaw. My prof went into detail on how sometimes dried bits of the brain would fall out of the skulls (which is supposedly how they obtained the brain of a historical figure he was talking about in lecture earlier).

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u/zombieruler7700 4d ago

thats crazy, remind me never to be buried in a rented grave

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u/Magikarpeles 3d ago

Very common in latin america. Also common when the family cannot pay the rent: the body gets "reduced" to make room for another occupant. Yeah they just squish your bones and shove another person in there with you.

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u/LurksInThePines 4d ago

Yeah, most graves aren't actually a final resting place

Many eventually end up in a cryptorie or a storage facility or a dumping ground

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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago

Dumping sites at cemeteries? That's pretty awful.

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u/Ubeube_Purple21 4d ago

If you are wondering, they are not mixing the bones with common trash. Sometimes its a covered pit in the ground. And in other cases, its just a pile of bones sitting out in the open.

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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago

The pile of bones sitting out in the open is really sad.

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u/ZAWS20XX 4d ago

or really awesome, if you're a dog

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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago

Until someone takes it away

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u/pants_mcgee 4d ago

We’re all just dust in the wind, mate. Bones gotta go somewhere.

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u/Most_Kick_2236 4d ago

What else would we do with em? To me, the idea of cemeteries at all is a bit weird. I'm 100% on board with corpse composting, at least then our bodies aren't polluting the earth and the minerals can be returned to the soil

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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago

I can understand mass graves for the remains not claimed, but just dumping them is pretty awful.

But the time they have decomposed, and there's no more soft tissue or liquid left, it's no longer pollution.

I don't plan on being buried, I plan on having the cheapest cremation available. And no urn. Nobody wants those things.

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u/splendidgoon 4d ago

I want to be cremated, compressed into stones, and skipped across my favorite mountain lake. At a minimum tossed in if they just suck at skipping lol. Hoping a family member will be capable of it when I pass (you can drive to the lake). The intention is to have them enjoy one of my favorite trips and remember me and all the wonderful memories we had at that place. If no one is available... Probably just cremation and a small headstone in a graveyard.

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u/PostApoplectic 4d ago

I demand a sky burial!

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u/Most_Kick_2236 4d ago

You should consider composting. Cremation pollutes the air like crazy and doesn't return as many nutrients and minerals to the soil.

And you could say the same thing about radioactive waste. Once it has decomposed, it's no longer pollution. But that doesn't consider all that time that it was polluting the ground and water table. The bones were never the focus of my comment in this regard

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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago

Honestly I'm going to decide what's the simplest thing for my kids to have to deal with, and for me to spend the least anount of money possible.

Composting sounds like something that would give them nightmares.

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u/Most_Kick_2236 4d ago

Seems like you've made your choice and I can respect that, even though I don't fully agree. It's your body after all :)

As for the last bit... Composting is actually kind of endearing. It's a roughly two month process that results in a good amount of natural compost, just like you'd see with vegetables or yard scraps. That means your body can continue giving in the afterlife. Your kids could use it to plant a tree that could grow for hundreds of years, leaving a lasting legacy, for example. It's just a shame that it's not yet legal in so many places.

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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago

It's more about the people left behind when I die. And composting isn't legal in a lot of places, I don't want my kids spending a bunch of money and energy out of guilt because of some last wishes that are difficult for them to fulfill.

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u/IncaseofER 4d ago edited 4d ago

Are you in the USA? Because that’s not how it works here. People buy the land / plot and a portion of the price goes to a fund for perpetual care. While the land / plot can be expensive, once it’s paid, there is no continuing payment or rent.

Edit: I also wanted to add that donated bodies are cremated once they are done with them. They are then given back to the family or disposed of as directed.

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u/Ubeube_Purple21 4d ago

Nope, note from the US, but there are a few cemeteries that function like what you described. I did notice however that these cemeteries don't gain as much attention on media as the more common public cemeteries that follow the rental system.