Exhuming Bodies and Bones

Sculptured bodies are erected on most memorials that commemorate violence. In the traditional form, whether on war memorials, or memorials of uprisings, or social movements, the clear articulation of a typically male face or body is central.

This practice has now taken place with the commemoration of two events in the early twentieth century: the First World War and the Spanish Civil War.

In 2009, a systematic effort was made to exhume the bodies of dead soldiers of the First World War. Between May and August, 250 remains of Australian and British soldiers were removed and DNA samples were taken from bones and teeth found in the clay. The attention to detail of removing these remains ensured that this was undertaken with ‘great care'.

This process allowed for the discovery of details of height, facial features and prewar conditions that assisted in further identification. The serious and severe traumatic injuries of the battle were clearly apparent. In the process of this excavation 6,200 artefacts were discovered. The items found constituted a form of remembrance and included buttons and buckles, as well as more personal items such as a fountain pen, a bible, a French phrase book, a leather pouch with coins inside, a rail ticket. Objects were conserved to see how they could illuminate an individual's identity.

Once the exhumation process had been completed, the individual process of identification began.^[1081] This was important for families for their own remembrance and commemoration of members lost. While the Australian Army formally initiated and sanctioned this process, families of deceased soldiers have embraced this as a vital part of their own commemorative endeavours and practices.