One of the world’s leading forensic anthropologists Professor Dame Sue Black spoke with great tenderness about her experiences, at the Hay Festival today. Her book All That Remains a life in death treats this sometimes taboo subject with great compassion and integrity.
She spoke lovingly about her upbringing in a remote part of Scotland and how from an early age gutting rabbits her father had shot, to working in a butcher’s shop, it seemed to fit that her next steps would be studying anatomy and from there she moved into anotomy and forensic anthropology.
In her talk she spoke with warmth and humanity about the many faces of death and how her job is to confirm the identity of bodies at war zones and disaster scenes. She said the purpose of this work is two-fold, to give the relatives of the the dead some sort of closure and to help bring the perpetrators of atrocities to justice.
She added, “The job can be harrowing and and there is also a huge amount of responsibility.” She has investigated horrific cases in Kosovo and identified bodies after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.
She was instrumental in setting up the UK’s Disaster Victim Examination unit which has a worldwide reputation and, her expertise has been crucial to many high-profile criminal cases.
She spoke with the utmost respect of the people who bequeath their bodies to science calling them our “silent teachers.” Black spoke in a no-nonsense style about death in general her approach to the death of her parents and her views on the sort of death she would like to have.
If you missed this you might like to go to Event 428, Waiting for the Last Bus: Reflections on Life and Death at 2.30pm on Sunday 3 June.
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