Editing Body snatching (section)

{{short description|Secret removal of corpses from burial sites}}
{{Redirect|Body snatcher|other uses|Body Snatcher (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Body snatchers at work, Old Crown Inn, Penicuik.JPG|thumb|Body snatchers at work. A painting on the wall of a public house in [[Penicuik]], Scotland]]'''Body snatching''' is the illicit removal of [[corpse]]s from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of [[grave robbery]] as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from the burial site itself. The term 'body snatching' most commonly refers to the removal and sale of corpses primarily for the purpose of dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. The term was coined primarily in regard to cases in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[United States]] throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. However, there have been cases of body snatching in many countries, with the first recorded case dating back to 1319 in Bologna, Italy.

Those who practiced the act of body snatching and sale of corpses during this period were commonly referred to as '''resurrectionists''' or '''resurrection men'''.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Body-Snatching |volume=4 |page=112}}</ref> [[Resurrectionists in the United Kingdom]], who often worked in teams and who primarily targeted more recently dug graves, would be hired in order to provide medical institutions and practitioners with a supply of fresh cadavers for the purpose of anatomical study.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Body Snatching Around The World {{!}} History Detectives {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/body-snatching-around-the-world/ |access-date=2022-05-07 |website=www.pbs.org}}</ref> Despite a significant decline in body snatching as a practice, there are contemporary instances of body snatching.