"Scientific Work Sanctions Everything": Czech Skull Hunters in Alaska

This article describes how the racial worldview of Aleš Hrdlička (1869-1943) shaped his unethical treatment of Native Americans during his expeditions to Alaska between 1926 and 1937. One of the maim aims of the trips was to dig up and steal Native American skeletons, by stealth if necessary. As a globally lauded anthropologist from one of America’s premier scientific institutions, Hrdlička’s devotion to scientific progress provided the motivation behind his behavior. In his scientific philosophy, humans (and their bones) were nothing more than material, and all individuals were best classified into races based on physical characteristics. For Hrdlička, science sanctioned everything