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Embalming - History vs. Modernism
© 2007-2008 Cameron Moray-Smith, DipFS, MNZEA, MAIE
Embalming; an Art and a Science that is as ancient as it is modern. A paradox? Not really. Embalming is an essential service that is offered by most funeral service companies today, but one that draws its origins from Antiquity. However through all of the ages of embalming practice and development, it remains a profession that is regarded by many as mysterious and often morbid. It is this misunderstanding that leads to society sometimes questioning the general relevance, value and purpose of this ancient art in modern day society. Today embalming is more than simply being an ancient art form; it is also a science; a science that has embraced and continues to embrace, the ever advancing movements in technology and knowledge. Even with embalming being a modern vocation it is still important for people to know, recognise, and understand its origins - "for to know where one is going, one must know where one has been"
If one to was to ask the question "Where did embalming originate" Egypt would be the place that would come to mind for the vast majority of people. However in reality embalming is a practice that developed in various forms in many societies around the 'Ancient World'.
What makes this last statement interesting is that many of these ancient societies had no physical means of inter-communication; with the development of their social customs occurring independently of other cultural societies, yet embalming has been found in one form or another in almost all parts of the world at similar times. In this light it is easier to take an overview of embalming development from the perspective of a generalised timeline.
When looking at a timeline of embalming history, three very distinct stages emerge.
1. The Ancient Period (Pre- Dark / Medieval Age)
2. The Period of the Anatomists (Medieval Age - The Renaissance)
3. The Modern Period (Post Industrialisation - Present Day)
The Ancient Period
At the time when the seeds of civilization were laid down, human society had done much in its migration across the globe; however in general terms had remained close to, or returned to the warmer equatorial regions. These regions were warmer in climate and seasonally arid providing good conditions for natural preservation. During the early stages of social development; our cultures and customs were relatively simple; the un-embalmed body of the deceased was placed into a shallow grave and buried; often with small personal items. At this time, funerary customs including the development of a belief structure in eternal afterlife, were limited and in their earliest stages of development; therefore complex handling and treatment of the deceased body was not an issue nor was it readily contemplated. Often these shallow graves would be un-earthed by natures processes and society found that these bodies were in a remarkable state of preservation. Although it should be noted that in these earliest of times, preservation was not the intention; rather it occurred through the chance encounter with the correct environmental elements.
Naturally Preserved Body
British Museum, London (2005)
Whilst a large number of these bodies have been discovered throughout Egypt, many have also been discovered in South America. The elements that result in this preservative effect are not only confined to the warmer regions of the earth, with naturally preserved bodies having been found in Alpine and Arctic locations, as well as throughout Asia and Europe. Four environmental categories have been identified as being able to produce a preservative effect-
1. Freezing - through direct and prolonged contact with snow or ice
2. Dry Cold - Natural "mummies" exposed to the passage of very cold and dry air current
3. Dry Heat - Natural "mummies" exposed to the passage of warm and dry air current
4. Soil content - Soils containing high levels of Salt, Aluminum, Copper or Tannin
As civilization grew, society did too and with it came the emergence of a hierarchical social structure. As this system of society grew and flourished, these simple preservative methods previously encountered by chance, were no longer adequate, thus requiring the development of a process not subject to the random processes of nature.
Society at this time consisted of a largely agrarian type base with hunting and gathering remaining a large part of the social necessity. In this way it is not too difficult to understand how the earliest processes of artificial preservation were developed. The hunter would return from the expedition with some or all of the community's / family's food requirements. The procedure for the preservation of food was well known; Eviscerate, bleed and dry (salting or smoking) the food; thus preserving for future consumption. From this view point it does not take much imagination to adapt this basic premise into a procedure that could be implemented for the preservation of the deceased human body.
From the view point of ancient history, the Egyptian Civilisation is most widely known for their use of embalming. This is not to say that they were the only one, but rather the most well documented. This can largely be attributed to way in which their culture developed, and to the way in which the Pharaohs of Egypt placed emphasis on their own immortalization and security of passage into the eternal afterlife. This security was hinged almost solely on the body remaining intact- the visual state of the body itself seems to have had little impact on the process, but may explain why the development of ritual bandaging occurred. Even given the documentation of the mummification process, no two historical accounts are identical; this can be attributed to scholars from differing dynastic periods through to differing interpretation and translation of the hieroglyphic record.
However a basic generalisation can be made-
1. Removal of Brain
Removal of brain tissue through the nasal passage. Forced introduction of a hook like implement would break through the Ethmoid Bone in order to create a direct channel into the cranial cavity.
Skulls showing
Broken Ethmoid bone(L) and Intact Ethmoid Bone (R)
British Museum, London (2005)
2. Removal of Thoracic / Abdominal / and Pelvic Organs
Evisceration of the body occurred through a vertical incision made on the left of the abdomen; from the level of the lower margin of the rib cage to the superior crest of the hip. The Kidney's and usually the Heart remained within the body. The Liver, Lungs, Stomach, and Intestines were placed into ceremonial Canopic Jars.
Unwrapped Mummified Body
British Museum, London (2005)
3. Covering of Natron
Following the evisceration, the body was covered in Natron. Natron is a desert salt comprising Chloride, Carbonate, Sulfate and Nitrate of Sodium, and Nitrate of Potassium.
4. Wrapping and Spicing
Following the body's removal from the Natron, it was washed and prepared for wrapping; this preparation included coating the body both inside and outside, with a mixture of resin and fat. Spices were often used to hide the smell of decomposition, particularly the eviscerated organs. The desiccation that results following the Natron immersion could also leave the preserved body with an unpleasant odour.
The process of body preservation varied greatly from place to place around the world, but whether the preservative effect was achieved through the deliberate intervention of humans or through the random processes of nature, successful preservation relied almost solely on the complete dehydration of the body tissues.
The Period of the Anatomists
This is a period of time that is generally accepted to have been from around 650ce and 1860ce (ce = Common Era or AD).
During the early part of this period, embalming as had previously been known in the Old World went into rapid decline and became almost non-existent. The Old World experienced a tumultuous time of cultural, social and religious upheaval, with the established empires being challenged by new and emergent social and religious groups. Egypt was invaded and overtaken during the conquest of the Arab civilization, whilst the might and splendour of the Greek and Roman empires in the Mediterranean region had declined into almost obscurity. The areas that had once been ruled through an organised system of Law and Order were now ruled by bands of armed men and warlords who made the most of the prevailing state of Anarchy. This period of lawlessness and cultural instability is what has become known as ‘The Dark Ages’, and was to last through until around the year 1000ce.
Even during this time of lawlessness and anarchy, new social customs were beginning to develop and it was this development that saw embalming slide into decline. The emergence Christianity and Islam as dominant religions led to the further decline of embalming, as both belief structures rejected the practice as being ‘unclean’ and outside of the bounds of their respective dogma; and as such the process of embalming became associated with the numerous pagan sects of the day and was consequently branded as a form of religious heresy. Even to this day modern embalming remains a practice that is not accepted by the Islamic faith. As the world entered into the second millennium, the unstable and often warlord like rulers were gradually eliminated and replaced by more stable, intelligent individuals who took control of vast geographical regions of Europe. This served to establish a more structured and civilised world.
During this new phase of social development came the urge to acquire knowledge and to pursue higher learning, with the goal of being able to understand all that had previously been unknown. This was to lead to the establishment of schools, colleges and universities throughout the most of major centres of Europe. These educational institutions followed the path of learning in a great many subjects- including medicine; however the ability to achieve further learning was extremely limited during the early phase, as the vast majority of resource material in existence had been based in the Great Library at Alexandria, Egypt. After the peak of the Egyptian civilisation, the near ½ million volumes estimated to have been contained within this library were lost to the world. Such difficulties were further compounded by the strong influence of the Church over the newly formed educational institutions and therefore the curriculum that was permitted to be taught. Inevitably the academic minds of the era expanded beyond the realms of religious dogma and the previously held ‘truths’ began to be questioned. Progress towards free thinking and learning still remained at a slow pace during this time as many of Europe’s academics refused to publish their research for fear of religious persecution. The result of this fear being that much of the research completed during this time was completed in secret, published posthumously, or in some cases lost forever to academia; never the less, research was being carried out and understanding and advancement of the medicine (and other sciences) was being made.
In order to achieve advancement in areas of medicine it was realised that further understanding of human anatomy, physiology and pathology would be required. The medical schools of the era also knew that to acquire achieve such learning they would need access to cadavers, which presented them with a major problem; it was not legal for them to do so. This problem was recognised by King Frederick II of Sicily, who was known to have a massive thirst for knowledge as well as being known as a religious sceptic, granted authority for cadavers to be taken for study during 1242. During this time most of the limited number of bodies that were collected by the medical schools were those of convicted criminals who had been executed by the state.
The early part of this new age of anatomical learning occurred at pace much slower than the academics of the day would have liked. Advancement was hampered by their repeated reference to old and inaccurate texts that were often found to be very different to what they were observing, their use of ‘barber surgeons’ to complete the actual dissection, and most importantly by their need to rush the process through due to decomposition of the bodies. As time progressed the need for preservation was realised, however it was also realised that the methods known for preservation at the time required evisceration of the body and ultimately led to the complete desiccation of the body; both effects meaning that the body was no longer suitable for detailed anatomical study. Early attempts to circumvent this issue were taken by multiple individuals as early the 1320’s. This led to the discovery of the circulatory system although; however methods of circulatory injection were used to trace the path of the system, not to effect preservation. In many cases the circulatory system was injected with liquid wax which then hardened to give a clear, detailed picture of the system during dissection. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) was known to have used this method to create many of his accurate anatomical drawings which formed the basis of our modern knowledge of anatomy.
Anatomical Drawings from “A Treatise on Painting” – Leonardo Da Vinci
As progress continued toward the 1700’s, it was inevitable that this new knowledge of the circulatory system would lead to its use as a means of delivering a preservative solution throughout the entirety of the human body. As such a new technique for preservation was about to be made, that would enable the medium-long term preservation of the body for study. The process is now generally accredited to three Dutch men; Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680), Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731) and Stephen Blanchard (1650-1720). Of these three men is was Stephen Blanchard who first detailed his work to the general public in his book “A New Anatomy With Concise Directions for [the] Dissection of the Human Body With a New Method of Embalming (1688)”
From this time through until the onset of the American Civil War (1861), many notable anatomists from various parts of Europe and the British Isles continued their drive for anatomical learning and the preservation of their specimens, which would in many case end up on display within the their own private museums. Such was the intensity of the anatomists, that in times where access to cadavers was limited, many anatomists resorted to ‘back hand deals’ and ‘body theft’ in order to gain their next specimen; and all done so in the name of so-called progress. Names that are synonymous with this period immediately prior to the American Civil War include – William and John Hunter (M.D.), Matthew Bailie (Scotland), and Jean Nicholas Gannal (France). J.N Gannal’s book “History of Embalming... (1840) is often credited to have led to several new Laws being introduced regulating the ingredients of embalming fluids – with the prohibition of the addition of Arsenic in 1846 and Mercury in 1848.
The Modern Period
This historical and broad overview of the origins and history of embalming would not be complete without looking at the modern period, a period that is generally referred to as everything that has followed since the time of the American Civil War (1861-18??]. Now whilst this may be an accurate reflection of the line of demarcation between the middle and modern periods, the modern period presents a range of sub-periods.
- The American Civil War period
- The emergence of embalming industry professionalism
- Today
Toward the end of the 17th and into the early part of the 18th centuries the field of anatomical study had moved away from the discreet and sometimes illicit and illegal study of ‘acquired’ corpses and moved into the realm of professional schools of study and research. By modern standards these schools were primitive and often employed what modern ethical standards would consider suspect; never the less the transition was definitely occurring and was being pushed along by the emergence of a new class of professionals in the United States. Anatomical and medical study began during this time as well as many of the American doctors and physicians travelling to the large established medical schools of Europe to receive medical training; to then return with their newly acquired knowledge.
By the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the processes of embalming were well known in America albeit by a small group of medically trained embalmers. The embalming texts that existed in Europe [such as Gannal’s the History of Embalming] had been translated into English and the formulas for the various chemical solutions used in Europe were now known.
Even with this knowledge, new resource material and specially trained ‘embalming surgeons’, embalming as a practice served almost no purpose in funeral service. Like so many technological developments [both past and present], embalming initially served a military application and was principally employed during times of war. Prior to the outbreak of Civil War in 1861, there had been no ability or provision to return the deceased soldiers from the field of war to their family for burial, and thus it was this war that gave the embalming profession it first experience of realtime and ongoing operational practice [outside of the medical schools].
Embalming as a practice came to the public’s attention through the high profile embalming of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth who was shot whilst seizing a confederate flag in May 1861. As the soldier of significant rank to be killed during the Civil War, his embalming and funeral gained substantial coverage by local media, a practice that continued on for high profile individuals in both military and public services; most notably the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
As the American Civil War continued, the number of embalming increased, as did the number of embalming surgeons who performed them; notable embalming surgeons included William Bunnell, Dr. Charles Da Costa Brown, Dr. Joseph Alexander, Dr Thomas Holmes and Dr. Richard Burr. In many cases little is known about these individuals other than that they had backgrounds in various medical sciences and went into practice as embalming surgeons and capitalised on a growing industry. One of the most recognisable individuals of the Civil War era is Dr Richard Burr [pictured below] who was captured on film embalming a recently deceased soldier.
Dr Richard Burr
What makes this photo quite interesting in the context of embalming history and development is that following the original publication of the photograph, a number of complaints were received by other notable figures of the period in respect of Dr Burr’s professionalism and conduct. There are a number of other factors and theories [service and quality of service, price inflation and personal vendetta] attached to this complaint, but what is certain is that the army then took steps in 1865 to remove embalming surgeons from military occupied areas. The flow on effect of this was the development and introduction of the first set of rules and regulations governing embalming in the United States. Such rules included restrictions on who could perform embalming services, the granting of licences, disinterment’s, and the prices that may be charged for an embalming service.
This marked the first steps towards a truly professional industry. The early of this new professional era began as the American Civil War draw to a close; President Lincoln had been assassinated, embalmed and lay in state for several days prior to his funeral. The media had picked up such high profile funerals and as such the term ‘embalming’ started to become familiar to the public. Even still the uptake of embalming into maintstream funeral service was still low. One theory put forward for this was the lack of proper educational material, tuition and professional associations in embalming. Throughout the 19th century the development of embalming into the areas of education, training and tuition was slow and embalming surgeons largely plied their trade with regards to the deaths of notable individuals. Never the less the practice of embalming slowly but surely gained in practice and through the 19th century companies specialising in embalming chemical manufacture and supply, instruments, and then knowledge [in form of text books] helped to move the science along its journey of professionalisation. 1878 saw the publication of ‘The Undertaker’s Manual’ which was the first embalming specific text in the United States. The first US state to form a professional association was Michigan [the Michigan Undertakers Association 1880], who subsequently pushed for and organised a national association in 1882 [National Funeral Directors Association]
The number of schools of embalming gradually increased through the later stages of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, many of which were run by the manufacturers of the embalming chemicals; some suggestions indicate a purely commercial motive, but whatever the true reason, these schools lead to the ‘embalmer’. No longer was embalming performed by individuals trained in other areas of medical science, trainee embalmers were now in the employ of the undertakers.
It is hard to say with absolute certainty when the practice of embalming crossed the cast expanse of water from the Western United States to the shores of New Zealand? But it is suggested that this will have occurred in the early stages of the 20th century. Similar to the way in which early embalming knowledge and practice transferred to the United States from Europe, the same can said for New Zealand. Many off the funeral industry pioneers here in New Zealand, seeing the real benefit of embalming, travelled offshore to the United States and England and in so doing returned to New Zealand with their knowledge and skills.
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