Someone reality check me if Iām overreacting or overthinking this, but it doesnāt feel very cool to me that weāre making food using Ćtziās body.
I donāt know if itās because my brain immediately jumps to things like the way Egyptian mummies were historically treated by Europeans, where human remains were dug up, bought and sold, ground into pigments, used in medicine, unwrapped at parties for entertainment, and generally treated as objects rather than people, and my brain is just connecting those dots and going āthat feels wrong,ā or if Iām actually noticing a broader pattern in how ancient human remains are often treated with less respect than we would extend to more recent dead.
Like, obviously nobody alive today personally knew Ćtzi. Heās been dead for thousands of years. I understand that. I also understand the scientific value of studying ancient remains and the incredible amount weāve learned from him about prehistoric life, diet, migration, disease, technology, and so on. I am not arguing that archaeological study is bad or that remains should never be researched.
But thereās something about crossing over from studying a body to making food and alcohol with it, using it and/or turning it into a novelty experience that makes me pause a little.
Maybe Iām applying modern ideas about bodily consent in situations where they donāt really fit. Maybe Iām being inconsistent and there are good reasons why this is viewed differently than other cases. Thatās genuinely possible. Iām absolutely not married to this opinion and Iām open to hearing from people who know more than I do.
At the same time, I think part of whatās bothering me is that if someone died recently and scientists announced they had reconstructed their microbiome and were now using it to make food products, a lot of people would immediately find that unsettling. The fact that thousands of years have passed seems to change peopleās reactions dramatically, and Iām not entirely sure where the line is between āenough time has passed that this is fineā and āthis is still a human being weāre talking about.ā
When I look at ancient remains, I donāt really stop seeing a person just because theyāre ancient. My instinctive reaction is still āthat was somebody.ā They had a life, relationships, fears, preferences, things they cared about, things they loved, people they loved, people who loved them. They were not an artifact when they were alive. They were made one after death.
So when I see things that move beyond research and into entertainment, commercialization, or novelty, something in my brain starts setting off like, silent hill style warning sirens.
If this doesnāt bother anyone else and thereās context Iām missing that makes this a perfectly respectful and normal thing, Iām completely open to being educated on that. But if other people have had similar thoughts, Iād be interested to hear them too, because I feel like Iām struggling to put words to exactly what is making me uncomfortable here. It feels like thereās a distinction somewhere between learning from the ancient dead and using them, and Iām not sure Iāve fully decided where I personally that distinction actually lies.
