Forensic archaeology is the discipline which supports crime investigators in locating and recovering human remains, whether from clandestine burials or other locations. It uses the techniques of archaeology within the constraints of the legal and police systems. Similarly, forensic anthropology applies the methods of physical anthropology to the remains recovered; this involves mostly osteology, the study of the human skeleton, but can include consideration of soft tissue and its decomposition.
In this course, students will begin by learning about the ways in which these specialisms are integrated within the whole investigative structure, and the various other experts with whom we work: we will look at who does what, and when and why, taking the UK as a model but considering variations worldwide.
Search methods and the techniques of excavation will be explained, using many case studies. Then we will spend two classes learning how skeletonised remains are recorded — these are short lectures followed by hands-on sessions using archaeological bone, beginning with the basic anatomy and identification of bones and moving on to determination of ethnicity, age, sex, stature, pathological changes and personal variations. At this point, the anthropologist would have produced a profile of the individual, to compare with, for example, a missing-person report.
The course concludes with a review of cases of multiple death — mass disasters and mass graves — their unique challenges of scale and working conditions, and the methods that have been developed to deal with them.
While all cases are anonymised and images have been edited for a general audience, prospective students should be aware that case studies are necessarily of a distressing nature.
