Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, Christina Thompson (HarperCollins, 2019). Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum is a 19th century physician’s cabinet of curiosities with a 21st century museum layered on top. Its dark wood panelling and glass-fronted cases contain, among other highlights, a collection of one hundred and thirty nine human skulls (each labeled with name, age, occupation, and cause of death) and the preserved conjoined liver of Chang and Eng Bunker, with fascinating if gruesome explanations of the anatomical oddities displayed. But beside the accumulated specimens is modern commentary on the history and culture of the doctors who diagnosed and treated them. The museum contains both the thing itself, our best current understanding of the thing, and something of the story of how we used to understand it and have come to do so differently.
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REVIEW: Sea People, by Christina Thompson
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Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, Christina Thompson (HarperCollins, 2019). Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum is a 19th century physician’s cabinet of curiosities with a 21st century museum layered on top. Its dark wood panelling and glass-fronted cases contain, among other highlights, a collection of one hundred and thirty nine human skulls (each labeled with name, age, occupation, and cause of death) and the preserved conjoined liver of Chang and Eng Bunker, with fascinating if gruesome explanations of the anatomical oddities displayed. But beside the accumulated specimens is modern commentary on the history and culture of the doctors who diagnosed and treated them. The museum contains both the thing itself, our best current understanding of the thing, and something of the story of how we used to understand it and have come to do so differently.