NewYorkTimesBookReviewEditors’Choice-Ananthropologistworkingwithforensicteamsandvictims’familiestoinvestigatecrimesagainsthumanityinLatinAmericaexploreswhatsciencecantellusaboutthelivesofthedeadinthishauntingaccountofgrief,thepowerofritual,andaquestforjustice.“Absorbing...multifacetedandelegiac...StillLifewithBonescapturestheethosthatdrivesthesearch--oftentirelessandagainsttheodds--fortruth.“--TheNewYorkTimesWINNEROFTHEJUANE.M?NDEZBOOKAWARD-ANEWYORKERANDBOOKPAGEBESTBOOKOFTHEYEAR“Exhumationcandividebrothersandrestorefathers,openoldwoundsandopenthepossibilityofregeneration--ofbuildingsomethingnewwiththe’pileofbrokenmirrors’thatismemory,loss,andmourning.“ThroughoutGuatemala’sthirty-six-yeararmedconflict,stateforceskilledmorethantwohundredthousandpeople.Argentina’smilitarydictatorshipdisappeareduptothirtythousandpeople.Inthewakeofgenocidalviolence,familiesofthemissingsearchedforthetruth.Youngscientistsjoinedtheirfightagainstimpunity.Gatheringevidenceinthefaceofintimidationanddeaththreats,theypioneeredthefieldofforensicexhumationforhumanrights.InStillLifewithBones,anthropologistAlexaHagertylearnstoseethedeadbodywithaforensiceye.Sheexaminesbonesformarksoftortureandfatalwounds--handsboundbyrope,machetecuts--andalsoforsignsofidentity:howlifeshapesusdowntothebone.Aweaverisrecognizedfromthetinybonesofthetoes,moldedbykneelingbeforealoom;agirlisidentifiedalongsideherpetdog.Inthetendernessofunderstandingthesebones,forensicsnotonlyoffersproofofmassatrocitybutalsotellsthestoryofeachlifelost.Workingwithforensicteamsatmassgravesitesandinlabs,Hagertydiscovershowbonesbearwitnesstocrimesagainsthumanityandhowexhumationcanbringfamiliesmeaningafterunimaginableloss.Shealsocomestoseehowcutting-edgesciencecanactasritual--awayofcaringforthedeadwithsymbolicforcethatcanrepairsocietiestornapartbyviolence.Weavingtogetherpowerfulstoriesaboutinvestigativebreakthroughs,historiesofviolenceandresistance,andherownforensiccoming-of-age,Hagertycraftsamovingportraitofthelivingandthedead.
