"Fake" Tourist Trap Skeletons Found To Be Real

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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"Fake" Tourist Trap Skeletons Found To Be Real


It turns out that a presumed-to-be-fake human skeleton that's been on display at the London Dungeon for more than 35 years is actually the real thing.

If you've ever visited the Wikipedia [http://www.the-dungeons.co.uk/london/en/index.htm] "recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a grimly comedic 'gallows humor' style," you've probably laid your eyes on a skeleton or two in some of its many displays. And you probably assumed, if you put any thought into it at all, that it was fake. And in at least one case - possibly two - you'd be wrong.

A partial human skeleton, consisting mainly of a ribcage and spine, that's been on display since 1975 was recently found to be the real thing. Bill Edwards, the medical museum curator at Guy's Hospital, thinks they were wired together back in the 1950s and says there might actually be another real skeleton on display as well. "I need to go back and examine that one more closely when the Dungeon team can get it down from the wall," he told the BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16037506]. "But from what I could see, it looks either human, or a combination of some human and some artificial parts."

The skeletons could date back hundreds of years to the early days of anatomical research, according to London Dungeon Operations Manager Catherine Pritchard. "We have no idea where they originally came from, but suspected they might date back to... when bodies were regularly smuggled in from the Far East for dissection," she said.

They were originally meant to be moved to the attraction's annual "Satan's Grotto" display later this month but will now be replaced by genuine fakes. The skeletons may actually remain on view, however, but it will be expensive; the London Dungeon will have to pay more than $3100 per year to the Tissues Authority - yes, the U.K. apparently has a "Tissues Authority" - to keep them on display.

via: Boing Boing [http://boingboing.net/2011/12/06/tourist-trap-dungeons-skelet.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29]


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vrbtny

Elite Member
Sep 16, 2009
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Mind-screw?

Anyway.... wow? Really. That is a bit dumb. A janitor could have damaged it or something, under the assumption it was just plastic and not really a dead guy/gal
 

zelda2fanboy

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Oct 6, 2009
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Pics or it didn't happen. Wait, here they are....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16037506a
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Andy Chalk said:
<
If you've ever visited the Wikipedia [http://www.the-dungeons.co.uk/london/en/index.htm] "recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a grimly comedic 'gallows humor' style,"
I have. And it really doesn't.

It's quite fun, especially because they understand hecklers, but the National War Museum is better.
 

emeraldrafael

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Jul 17, 2010
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vrbtny said:
Mind-screw?

Anyway.... wow? Really. That is a bit dumb. A janitor could have damaged it or something, under the assumption it was just plastic and not really a dead guy/gal
I dont think anyone else would have cared if someone didnt say these may be real.

OT: A tissue authority doesnt sound all that strange really. really the only thing out of the ordinary was that this didnt come from North Korea
 

LavaLampBamboo

King of Okay
Jun 27, 2008
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The Tissue Authority sounds like something that polices the habits of teenage boys alone in their rooms.

I'm so sorry.
 

Plinglebob

Team Stupid-Face
Nov 11, 2008
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Its nice to see UK attractions going for realism in this age of CG effects.

Andy Chalk said:
The skeletons may actually remain on view, however, but it will be expensive; the London Dungeon will have to pay more than $3100 per year to the Tissues Authority - yes, the U.K. apparently has a "Tissues Authority" - to keep them on display.
And you guys don't? I suppose its [http://www.hta.gov.uk/] one of those things that you need, but no-one ever really thinks about.
 

Drummie666

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Jan 1, 2011
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Best way to hide a body, ever.

Okay, in seriousness, I'm wondering how they missed this for so long. I mean, I didn't think that the stuff they made fake skeletons out of was that similar to the real thing. Especially back then. Then again, I don't exactly know a damn thing about fake bones. I don't think I've ever been to this kind of thing before anyway... Or any kind of amusement park... or even a roller coaster...

Okay, now I'm just getting way off topic. I'll just leave with my original comment. Best way to hide a body, ever.
 

the spud

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May 2, 2011
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I think I have heard about this kind of thing happening before (I read it in a Cracked article) but instead of a skeleton, it was the whole body of a deceased train-robber used as a prop.

OT: That's pretty cool, I wish I could have gone.
 

bobmus

Full Frontal Nerdity
May 25, 2010
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Eh, I live near the London Dungeon and Guy's and my flat has a partial human skeleton under the kitchen sink.

Not joking, the flat anatomy student means we have a skeleton in the closet!
 

JaredXE

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Apr 1, 2009
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Why the hell would they have broadcast this if it means they get taxed? Also, on what authority does this "Tissues Commission" have to tax them? It's just bones.
 

Formica Archonis

Anonymous Source
Nov 13, 2009
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We've all got to earn ourselves a living
All it takes is a little bit of digging
By a resurrectionist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_snatching]

(We don't bring them back to life, but we do bring them back from the dead.)

- Pet Shop Boys, The Resurrectionists [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvSc7RLfUpA]

I have a custom made t-shirt featuring a tombstone with a shovel against it and the word "RESURRECTIONIST". No one gets it.
 

Trishbot

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May 10, 2011
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I saw this exhibit. Didn't know they were actual dead bodies.

Now I'm getting a Silent Hill 3 "Funhouse" feeling where I couldn't tell which dead bodies were real or fake!
 

Raven's Nest

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2009
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A little harsh to call the london dungeon a tourist trap Andy...

Beats spending 3 hours in a queue to see a bunch of wax figures of "celebrities"... Madame Tussade's, now thats a tourist trap.
 

jprf

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May 18, 2011
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JaredXE said:
Why the hell would they have broadcast this if it means they get taxed? Also, on what authority does this "Tissues Commission" have to tax them? It's just bones.
Under UK law (Human Tissues Act 2004) you need a license to publicly display human tissues, and the Human Tissue Authority is the government organisation which distributes those licenses. I'm a medical student, we covered that in some detail.
 

SenseOfTumour

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Jul 11, 2008
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JaredXE said:
Why the hell would they have broadcast this if it means they get taxed? Also, on what authority does this "Tissues Commission" have to tax them? It's just bones.
Maybe there's a necrophiliac on the staff who's getting thru a lot of them?

Also, "will now be replaced by genuine fakes." did make me smile.
 
Jan 27, 2011
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0_0 Holy cow that's just plain creepy.

Also, what's this about "bodies that used to be smuggled in from the far east to dissection"?! ...Ewwwww....that's just not right...

Well, whatever. Water under the bridge and all that.