Excavation, Archaeological Context, and Historical Background of the Nineteenth-Century Winchester Anatomized Site, Massachusetts

Abstract

In November 2020, an unmarked deposit of mostly disarticulated human remains was accidentally uncovered and partially dispersed by heavy machinery during house foundation excavation in Winchester, Massachusetts, United States. An excavation of the deposit was carried out by the Massachusetts Historical Commission and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, with participation by interns from the Boston University School of Medicine, Forensic Anthropology Program. The deposit was in a square feature, 2.0 m north–south, 2.1 m east–west, and ~2.0 m below the former ground surface, and it contained a Minimum Number of Individuals of 35 adult humans, 11 juvenile humans, and 40 nonhuman specimens, along with laboratory ware and ceramics dating the deposit to as early as the 1850s. This deposit is most consistent with former anatomical and surgical training (i.e., “anatomized”) remains, having large amounts of sawing and other sharp-force trauma. To date, the remains cannot be linked to any individual or institution, but they likely derive from a medical or anatomical program in the area. The present article details the excavation of this site, its depositional context, and historical background, with comparison to similar sites.