grave robbers

Tomb-plundering criminals

Grave robbers are people who dig up corpses or steal from burial sites.

Historically, grave robbers supplied cadavers to medical schools for dissection, or looted valuables buried with the dead.

The term extends to anyone who desecrates graves for profit: Archaeologists are sometimes accused of being glorified grave robbers.

Also called body snatchers or resurrection men.

historical

pyramids

Apex-topped geometric solids

Egypt · Valley of the Kings · Burke and Hare · resurrection men · body snatchers · Victorian · medical students · churchyards · catacombs · barrows

criminal

desecrators

Those who profane sanctity

vandals · trespassers · felons · burglars · criminals · outlaws · ghouls · marauders · pillagers · raiders

notoriety

sacrilege

Violation of the hallowed

infamy · notorious · scandalous · nefarious · cursed · dishonor · violation · profane · forbidden · condemned

archaeological

excavation

Act of unearthing

antiquities · provenance · repatriation · cultural heritage · illegal trade · smuggling · forgery · authentication · stratigraphy · context

morbid

ghoulish

Fascinated by death grotesquely

skeleton · crypt · tomb · necropolis · mausoleum · coffin · decomposition · decay · remains · burial

Categories
Opposites
relationship to the dead and burial

grave robbersmourners

Those lamenting a death

gravediggers · pallbearers · funeral directors · undertakers · morticians

legality and ethics of handling remains

grave robberscoroners

Death cause determiners

medical examiners

relationship to burial goods and sites

grave robbersflorists

Sellers of cut blooms

Family

grave, robber, graves, robbers, gravely, graveness, robs, robbed, robbing

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG