In the 18th and 19th centuries, anatomy teaching in Britain and the United States needed far more bodies than the law supplied, since executed criminals were the only lawful source. Grave robbers, called resurrection men, dug up fresh burials and sold corpses to anatomists. Families responded with mortsafes, iron cages or coffin lids, sometimes weighted with stone, that stayed in place until a body had decayed beyond use for dissection, typically a few weeks. Some graveyards had watch-houses, and some communities set up mortsafe societies that rented out the cages. The British Anatomy Act of 1832 allowed unclaimed bodies to be used legally, which reduced the trade.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.