The Relics of Science

Nonhuman Bodies in Natural History and Zoological Museums

Bibliographic Data

ID2289607
AuthorsNatalia Schwien Scott (0009-0006-8419-1634, Committee for the Study of Religion, Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA)
Year2025
Volume48
Issue2
Publication date2025-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMuseum Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0892-8339 • E-ISSN: 1548-1379
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/muan.70014
OpenAlexW4412779964
LanguageEN
References cited32

Natural history museums function as pedagogical showrooms for science. They operate within the contemporary framework of the biological sciences-presented as secular, value-free, and devoid of social influence. However, I argue the practice of preserving and displaying bodies carries not only an epistemological lineage but also an ontological one. In this paper, I consider the function of preserved bodies in both Catholicism and natural history museums, exploring correlations in their respective developments, methods of collection, documentation, and presentation, as well as the contexts of relationality between human people and nonhuman dead bodies. Through this examination, I argue that, much like the fragmentary remains of saints, these reconstructed nonhuman bodies manifest a new kind of relic, weaving together the past and present through their own special powers of resurrection, reconstitution, and miraculous healing through the engagement with materiality

Anthropological Studies and Insights · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Race, Genetics, and Society

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