Knowing Your Audience: Reactions to the Human Body, Dead and Undead

Abstract

In order to effectively “speak out” as bioarchaeologists, practitioners must be aware of their audiences, both intended and unintended and academic and public. Audience reactions to and perceptions of bioarchaeological research are shaped in large part by a long and shifting history of cultural perceptions of death and the human body. Further, legislation and public policy in regard to sites of “dark tourism” can affect the translation of research and its interpretation by visitors. This chapter offers a review of public perceptions of the body, both dead and undead, as well as an introduction to the concept of “dark tourism” and the popular media and pop culture’s influence on these perceptions in an effort to equip bioarchaeologists with an augmented awareness of their potential audiences.