Forensic archaeology in Britain

Abstract

Forensic archaeology is a relatively recent development in the UK but has already shown its worth on a number of scenes of crime; it has a particular role to play in the location and recovery of buried remains, notably in homicide investigations. This paper explores the overlap between archaeology and criminal investigation and considers areas of mutual interest, experience and potential.

Forensic archaeology in New Zealand: Review and future directions

“…Based on a review of ESR case files and personal communications with ESR staff, it is estimated that of the total number of homicides, only 1 to 2 of these (53%) per year will involve an attempt to conceal the body, such as a scene involving a clandestine grave. This figure is roughly in accordance with the figure of 1 in 50 homicides involving a burial cited in the international literature 7,8 . Despite these small numbers, effectively any case that requires physical spadework for the recovery of evidence is a case where archaeology can contribute positively, and the low frequency of such situations need not undermine the importance of maximising evidential recovery and employing best practice.…”

The Archaeology of Historic Battlefields: A History and Theoretical Development in Conflict Archaeology

“…Archaeologists are not new to assisting forensic and medicolegal investigations of crime, but only since the 1990s has forensic archaeology really developed (Bass and Birkby 1978;Connor 2007;Connor and Scott 2001a;Dirkmaat and Adovasio 1997;Hoshower 1998;Hunter 1994;Morse et al 1983;Sigler-Eisenberg 1985;Skinner and Lazenby 1983). Forensic archaeologists are now routinely employed in mass grave excavations and exhumations to aid in documenting the physical evidence of modern war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide (Connor 2007;Juhl 2004;Middle East Watch 1992).…”

Front Matter

“…This definition, although similar to the definitions and descriptions of forensic archaeology as used by forensic specialists, mostly forensic archaeologists and/or anthropologists (e.g. Morse et al 1976Morse et al , 1983Morse et al , 1984Skinner 1987;Hunter et al 1994Dirkmaat and Adovasio 1997;Scott andConnor 1997, 2001;Christ 2001;Haglund 2001;Skinner et al 2003;Blau 2004;Blau and Skinner 2005;Hunter and Cox 2005;Menez 2005;Oakley 2005;Connor 2007;Dirkmaat et al 2008;Hanson 2008;Blau and Ubelaker 2009;Cox 2009;Dirkmaat 2012a;Dirkmaat and Cabo 2012;Hochrein 2012;, is primarily intended as a broad-spectrum working definition. A more tailored definition will be provided in the final part of this volume, Concluding Remarks.…”

“…Subsequently, forensic archaeology in these countries is recognised as an independent discipline -grounded in archaeological science -and is therefore practised by archaeologists (e.g. Hunter et al 1994Hunter 2002Hunter , 2009Hunter and Cox 2005;Menez 2005;Cox 2009;de Leeuwe and Groen, Chapter 14, this volume;Hunter and Cropper, Chapter 23, this volume;Janaway, Chapter 24, this volume;Schuliar et al, Chapter 8, this volume). To complicate the matter of definition even further, many of the forensic anthropologists working in the United Kingdom have an educational background in archaeology (Cox 2009, 31-32).…”

“…The first medico-legal European investigation related to the use of archaeology in a regular police enquiry -to the editors' knowledgetook place in 1988, when the forensic archaeological theory and methodology was applied in the United Kingdom (e.g. Hunter et al 1994Hunter and Cox 2005;Cox 2009;Hunter and Cropper, Chapter 23, this volume). In 1990-1991, a team of Australian and Soviet archaeologists and anthropologists excavated three mass graves associated with WWII Nazi mass burials of Jewish victims at Serniki and Ustanovka, Ukraine, this in process of acquiring evidence for the Australian War Crimes Prosecutions that were conducted between 1986 and 1992 (Wright 1995).…”