Lewis Powell's Jaw

[BettyO]

Betty: how is that we have pictures of Lew's skull?

Hey, Bill!

Back in 1992, things were not as strict as they are now....

We were allowed to see Lew's skull, handle it to our hearts' content, photograph it - and even clown around with it.... no white gloves involved - at all! Just our bare hands.

I got to "see" him two separate times before he was shipped home to "mama"! HA!

One thing I was amazed at was how small the skull actually was! It seemed his head was smaller than mine - and he was a big boy! I asked the anthropologist why it seemed small and he stated that it was because the muscle, tissue, fat, nerves, and other things makes the head appear larger. If that's the case, than mine must be miniscule!

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Aw, look at you two! I hope he paid for dinner!

Yuk! HA!! If he ate, he'd be more than a bit "leaky!"

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Thank you Betty! It must have been an incredible experience, to come face to face with Lewis like that.

Oh, it was an experience all right! I'd never SEEN a real human skull before - much less handled one. The skeletons we had in science class in school had been made of plastic. This was the real thing. Lew's skull had a mottled appearance and the anthropologist told me this was called "coffin rot." I later questioned Dr. Houmes on this and he stated that "coffin rot" is where the wood of the casket touches the bones, turning them to a different color as the wood leaches, I guess fluids, into the remains.

Yes, it was an incredible experience - especially for an author to "meet" her biographical subject 127 years after he died!