Scientific body. Quantitative development, internationality and provenances of research on human specimens in the...

The article presents a systematic investigation into the use of human specimens in scientific contributions to the Anatomischer Anzeiger. The journal represented, since its founding in 1886, an attempt to integrate the wider field of morphological research, as well as its internationality. Simultaneously, anatomists regularly voiced their perception of a discipline in crisis, of increasing fragmentation and decreasing relevance, a perception that was not least linked to the scientific significance of the deceased human body. Focusing on the period between 1900 and 1965, this article traces the frequency of the use of human specimens over time, the development of its international composition and the distribution of provenances of specimens used. The investigation shows two contrarian tendencies, that of an absolute decrease in overall publications in the Anatomischer Anzeiger and that of a relative increase in publications relying on human specimens; it relates these tendencies to a decrease in the international composition of its authorship and an increase in the number of articles stemming from German researchers and institutions; and it displays a relative steadiness of different provenances of human specimens, with the notable exception of human specimens stemming from executed persons as well as other unethical contexts, which show a unique development related to political conditions.