What is Grave Robbing?

Information about Grave Robbing

Grave robbing or grave robbery 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.

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. 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.

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 exact same practice.

See also

Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. The term generally refers to any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of interment or, occasionally, burial,
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crypt (from the Latin crypta and the Greek kryptē) is a stone chamber or vault, usually beneath the floor of a church or castle, usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics of important persons such as saints or
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The term steal can mean either:
  • To commit theft
Or, in sports terminology:
  • In baseball, to gain a stolen base
  • In basketball, a steal occurs when the defensive player actively takes possession of the ball from the opponent's team

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In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. Examples include stone tools such as projectile points, pottery vessels, metal objects such as buttons or guns, and items
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Illicit antiquities are antiquities, or artifacts of archaeological interest, found in illegal or unregulated excavations, and traded covertly.

The global trade in illicit antiquities connects black-market activities in the countries of origin, by smuggling, to sales through
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body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death. The study of the workings of the body is physiology.
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Art history is the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and look.[1] Moreover, art history generally is the research of artists and their cultural and social contributions.
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This page contains Chinese text.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.
China (Traditional Chinese:
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Jade burial suit (Chinese: 玉衣; Pinyin: yù yī; literally "jade suit") is a ceremonial suit made of pieces of jade in which some nobles in Han Dynasty China were buried.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1965 1966 1967 - 1968 - 1969 1970 1971

Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII
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Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

Chalk portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra
Birth name Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
March 6 1475(1475--)
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Renaissance (French for "rebirth"; Italian: Rinascimento; Spanish: Renacimiento), was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe.
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Painting, meant literally, is the practice of applying color to a surface (support) such as paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer or concrete. However, when used in an artistic sense, the term "painting" means the use of this activity in combination with drawing, composition and
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sculpture is a man-made three-dimensional object intended for special recognition as art. A person that creates sculptures is called a sculptor.

Materials of sculpture through history


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Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the adult human body.[1] It is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy.[1]
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Body-snatching was the secret disinterment of bodies from churchyards to sell them for dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. Those who practised body-snatching or grave robbing were often called resurrectionists or resurrection-men.
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Leonardo da Vinci

Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515. [a]
Birth name Leonardo di Ser Piero
March 15 1452(1452--)
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Acts of Parliament of predecessor
states to the United Kingdom
Acts of English Parliament to 1601
Acts of English Parliament to 1641
Acts and Ordinances (Interregnum) to 1660
Acts of English Parliament to 1699
Acts of English Parliament to 1706
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Body-snatching was the secret disinterment of bodies from churchyards to sell them for dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. Those who practised body-snatching or grave robbing were often called resurrectionists or resurrection-men.
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Dr. Thomas Sewall (April 16, 1786 – April 10, 1845), was a doctor, writer and professor. He gained notoriety for being convicted of grave robbing, and later went on to become a professor.

Sewall was born in Hallowell, Maine.
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