Final answer:
The treatment of human corpses for examination has evolved over time from secluded preservation during crises, to careful ritualistic burial, and eventually, to the study of anatomy via dissections and later non-invasive techniques such as X-Rays.
Step-by-step explanation:
Based on historical records and archaeological evidence, we can infer that the authorities treated examinations of human corpses with varying degrees of respect and procedural uniformity, particularly in times of crisis. For instance, during the aftermath of an uprising, bodies were often stored in secluded areas such as cisterns to avoid the spread of disease and to protect them until burial protocols could be established. The treatment of corpses would therefore depend on several factors, including the elapsed time between death and burial, as well as the conditions of preservation. Moreover, communal graves from different periods show that bodies were buried with care and according to ritualistic practices, like the west-east orientation characteristic of Jewish ritual, even when decomposition had set in.
The practice of human dissection for medical knowledge, however, was highly restricted by societal norms and legal sanctions for thousands of years due to fear of the dead and a lack of effective surgical techniques. This shifted during the late Renaissance with the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius, which prompted medical schools to teach anatomy using human dissection, which was previously hindered by grave robbing. Eventually, laws allowed for dissections of criminals' corpses and bodies donated to science. Nevertheless, it was not until advancements such as X-Rays in the late nineteenth century that non-invasive methods to study human anatomy were discovered.