In recent years, skulls, bones, and even modified human remains have appeared with increasing frequency on online marketplaces and social media platforms. What might once have been confined to specialist collectors has become a global, online trade.

The market is fuelled by diverse groups of buyers. Some are traditional collectors of curiosities, others are ritual practitioners. And a smaller number of contemporary artists and designers buy human remains to incorporate into sculptures or installations, raising concerns about the use of the body as raw material. There are also medical and dental students, some of whom still seek real skulls for their own study, unaware of the legal and ethical pitfalls.

Perhaps the most striking development is the rise of casual consumers inspired by social media. The aesthetic known as “dark academia” has helped to drive this surge. Blending gothic literature, candlelit libraries, vintage tailoring and scholarly mystique, it presents bones as fashionable props. On Instagram (#SkullDecor) and TikTok (#OdditiesTok), users pose with skeletons in the same way they might with antique books or candlelight, transforming skulls into lifestyle decor.

This trend is troubling because it normalises ownership of human remains and blurs the line between objects of study and........

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