Mortsafes were contraptions designed to protect graves from disturbance. Resurrectionists had supplied the schools of anatomy in Scotland since the early 18th century. This was due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy by attending dissections of human subjects, which was frustrated by the very limited allowance of dead bodies – for example the corpses of executed criminals – granted by the government, which controlled the supply.

TV and radio host Lizzie Cundy, 46, attends the World Premiere of “The Hatton Garden Job” at The Curzon Soho on April 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Fame Flynet)

Students are seen on a pickup truck at the agricultural road which leads to the capital city of Cairo, Egypt, October 13, 2016. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Children play with weapons during Children's Day celebration at a military facility in Bangkok, Thailand January 14, 2017. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Pascal Craymer seen attending Pam Hogg at Freemason's Hall during LFW February 2018 on February 16, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Goff Photos)

A hint of Spring Fever is evidenced by this passerby tipping his hat to a store fixture mannequin on a State St. sidewalk in downtown Chicago on March 23, 1978. The mannequin was awaiting pickup to be transported. (Photo by AP Photo)

Thick smoke rises during an eruption from Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, as seen from Tunggularum village in Sleman on March 11, 2023. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)