Dissection of the human body has long been a key part of Western medical education. To acquire bodies, anatomists often resorted to exploitative methods, including grave robbing and trading bodies through colonial networks targeting marginalized populations. Bioarchaeological research, particularly by scholars of color, has shown how such practices were central to colonial European nations’ constructions of race, identity, and difference. However, less attention has been paid to cadaver acquisition and medical teaching in marginal European nations. This dissertation examines the history of Icelandic cadaver collection through the Læknagarður Anatomical Skeletal Collection at the University of Iceland. Using queer archaeology and Black feminist theory, I explore how Iceland navigated its dual position as both a colonial dependency and part of European racial hierarchies. By analyzing the collection alongside historical and ethnographic records, I investigate the intersections of colonialism, medical education, and race in Icelandic history. The collection includes human remains retained after surgeries, excavated from local archaeological sites, purchased through international trade networks, and donated by physicians. These findings reveal how Icelandic medical education relied on global networks while reflecting local constraints. I argue that the creation of the Læknagarður Collection was not merely a medical teaching tool but also a nationalist project, reflecting global trends in using anatomical knowledge to construct identity. Drawing on Sylvia Wynter’s critique of human hierarchies and queer archaeology’s focus on marginalized narratives, I show how the collection embodies broader colonial histories and power dynamics in the circulation of human remains. Ultimately, this research seeks to make legible the forgotten histories of the individuals whose remains are now housed in Læknagarður and reveals how both local and global dynamics shaped Iceland’s early anatomical practices.