human remains
What autopsies examine
Human remains are the body or body parts of a dead person.
The term appears most often in formal, legal, or forensic contexts—crime scenes, archaeological digs, disaster recovery, repatriation of the dead.
It maintains clinical distance: The search team discovered human remains in the woods.
The plural form is standard even when referring to a single body.
- cremationBurning the deceased
- craniumSkull bone structure
- skeletonInternal supportive framework
- burialPlacing deceased underground
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
next of kin · exhumation · unmarked grave · mass grave · femur · bioethics · ossuary · bone · osteology · pelvis · rib cage · forensic analysis · skull · cadaver dogs · crime scene · cold case · John Doe · missing persons
- prehistorystone tools, Neolithic, Stone Age, caveman, cavemen
- Archaeological Museumartifacts, pottery, pottery shards, fossils, mummies
- archaeologyexcavation, dig site, archaeologist, dig, archaeological digs
- special cargohazardous materials, dangerous goods, perishables, live animals, fragile goods
- arts lawart fraud, fair use, intellectual property, looted art, restitution claims
- bioarchaeologydisease markers, health history, growth patterns, occupational stress, childhood illness