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Watson CJ, Ueland M, Schotsmans EMJ, Sterenberg J, Forbes SL, Blau S. Detecting grave sites from surface anomalies: A longitudinal study in an Australian woodland. J Forensic Sci 2020; 66:479-490. [PMID: 33202037 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 10/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Forensic investigations of single and mass graves often use surface anomalies, including changes to soil and vegetation conditions, to identify potential grave locations. Though numerous resources describe surface anomalies in grave detection, few studies formally investigate the rate at which the surface anomalies return to a natural state; hence, the period the grave is detectable to observers. Understanding these processes can provide guidance as to when ground searches will be an effective strategy for locating graves. We studied three experimental graves and control plots in woodland at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (Sydney, Australia) to monitor the rate at which surface anomalies change following disturbance. After three years, vegetation cover on all grave sites and control plots had steadily increased but remained substantially less than undisturbed surroundings. Soil anomalies (depressions and cracking) were more pronounced at larger grave sites versus the smaller grave and controls, with leaf litterfall rendering smaller graves difficult to detect beyond 20 months. Similar results were observed in two concurrent burial studies, except where accelerated revegetation appeared to be influenced by mummified remains. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall may prolong the detection window for grave sites by hindering vegetation establishment. Observation of grave-indicator vegetation, which exhibited abnormally strong growth 10 months after commencement, suggests that different surface anomalies may have different detection windows. Our findings are environment-specific, but the concepts are applicable globally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Watson
- Département des sciences de l'environnement, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| | - Maiken Ueland
- Centre for Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, Australia
| | - Eline M J Schotsmans
- Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.,PACEA De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Jon Sterenberg
- Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Shari L Forbes
- Département de Chimie, Biochimie et Physique, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| | - Soren Blau
- Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Barone PM, Di Maggio RM. Forensic geophysics: ground penetrating radar (GPR) techniques and missing persons investigations. Forensic Sci Res 2019; 4:337-340. [PMID: 32002492 PMCID: PMC6968642 DOI: 10.1080/20961790.2019.1675353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 09/29/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) investigations have the potential to non-destructively detect buried or hidden targets and are therefore often used in forensic research. This study presents a particular application of GPR methods to search for a missing person in a specific subsurface environment: a natural cave. The search for missing people in Italy is a problematic and delicate task that needs improvement. Results of this study highlight not only the ability to detect both hollow and forensic targets, but also precisely locate and define their geometries. Moreover, GPR findings efficiently focus archaeological excavation and body recovery in an exact area and help to minimise time digging in erroneous places.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pier Matteo Barone
- Archaeology and Classics Program, American University of Rome, Rome, Italy.,Geoscienze Forensi Italia®-Forensic Geoscience Italy, Rome, Italy
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Schotsmans EMJ, García-Rubio A, Edwards HGM, Munshi T, Wilson AS, Ríos L. Analyzing and Interpreting Lime Burials from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939): A Case Study from La Carcavilla Cemetery. J Forensic Sci 2016; 62:498-510. [PMID: 27907232 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2015] [Revised: 05/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Over 500 victims of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) were buried in the cemetery of La Carcavilla (Palencia, Spain). White material, observed in several burials, was analyzed with Raman spectroscopy and powder XRD, and confirmed to be lime. Archaeological findings at La Carcavilla's cemetery show that the application of lime was used in an organized way, mostly associated with coffinless interments of victims of Francoist repression. In burials with a lime cast, observations made it possible to draw conclusions regarding the presence of soft tissue at the moment of deposition, the sequence of events, and the presence of clothing and other evidence. This study illustrates the importance of analyzing a burial within the depositional environment and taphonomic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eline M J Schotsmans
- Laboratoire PACEA De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, Bat. B8, Allee Geoffroy St Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615, Pessac Cedex, France.,Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK
| | - Almudena García-Rubio
- Unit of Physical Anthropology, Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Darwin 2, Madrid, 28049, Spain.,Department of Physical Anthropology, Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Zorroagagaina 11, Donostia, Basque Country, Spain
| | - Howell G M Edwards
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK
| | - Tasnim Munshi
- School of Chemistry, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN6 7DL, UK
| | - Andrew S Wilson
- Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK
| | - Luis Ríos
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Zorroagagaina 11, Donostia, Basque Country, Spain.,Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), José Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain
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Warnasch SC. Forensic Archaeological Recovery of a Large-Scale Mass Disaster Scene: Lessons Learned from Two Complex Recovery Operations at the World Trade Center Site. J Forensic Sci 2016; 61:584-93. [PMID: 27122394 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2014] [Revised: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 06/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In 2006, unexpected discoveries of buried World Trade Center (WTC) debris and human remains were made at the World Trade Center mass disaster site. New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) was given the task of systematically searching the site for any remaining victims' remains. The subsequent OCME assessment and archaeological excavation conducted from 2006 until 2013, resulted in the recovery of over 1,900 victims' remains. In addition, this operation demonstrated the essential skills archaeologists can provide in a mass disaster recovery operation. The OCME excavation data illustrates some of the challenges encountered during the original recovery effort of 2001/2002. It suggests that when understood within the larger site recovery context, certain fundamental components of the original recovery effort, such as operational priorities and activities in effect during the original recovery, directly or indirectly resulted in unsearched deposits that contained human remains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott C Warnasch
- Office of Chief Medical Examiner, New York City, NY 50 Morse Ave. Bloomfield, NJ 07003
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Young A, Stillman R, Smith MJ, Korstjens AH. Applying Knowledge of Species-Typical Scavenging Behavior to the Search and Recovery of Mammalian Skeletal Remains. J Forensic Sci 2015; 61:458-466. [PMID: 26551615 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.12974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Revised: 01/18/2015] [Accepted: 04/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Forensic investigations involving animal scavenging of human remains require a physical search of the scene and surrounding areas. However, there is currently no standard procedure in the U.K. for physical searches of scavenged human remains. The Winthrop and grid search methods used by police specialist searchers for scavenged remains were examined through the use of mock red fox (Vulpes vulpes) scatter scenes. Forty-two police specialist searchers from two different regions within the U.K. were divided between those briefed and not briefed with fox-typical scavenging information. Briefing searchers with scavenging information significantly affected the recovery of scattered bones (χ(2) = 11.45, df = 1, p = 0.001). Searchers briefed with scavenging information were 2.05 times more likely to recover bones. Adaptions to search methods used by searchers were evident on a regional level, such that searchers more accustom to a peri-urban to rural region recovered a higher percentage of scattered bones (58.33%, n = 84).
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandria Young
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, Bournemouth, U.K
| | - Richard Stillman
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, Bournemouth, U.K
| | - Martin J Smith
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, Bournemouth, U.K
| | - Amanda H Korstjens
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, Bournemouth, U.K
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Young A, Stillman R, Smith MJ, Korstjens AH. Scavenger Species-typical Alteration to Bone: Using Bite Mark Dimensions to Identify Scavengers. J Forensic Sci 2015; 60:1426-35. [PMID: 26249734 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.12839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2014] [Revised: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 10/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Scavenger-induced alteration to bone occurs while scavengers access soft tissue and during the scattering and re-scavenging of skeletal remains. Using bite mark, dimensional data to assist in the more accurate identification of a scavenger can improve interpretations of trauma and enhance search and recovery methods. This study analyzed bite marks produced on both dry and fresh surface deposited remains by wild and captive red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles), as well as domestic dog (Canis familiaris). The bite marks produced by foxes were distinguishable from those made by badgers and dogs based on ranges of mean length and breadth of pits. The dimensional data of bite marks produced by badgers and dogs were less discernible. Bone modifications vary due to a variety of factors which must be considered, such as scavenger species-typical scavenging behavior, scavenger species' dentition, condition and deposition of remains, and environmental factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandria Young
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Christchurch House, Bournemouth, BH12 5BB, U.K
| | - Richard Stillman
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Christchurch House, Bournemouth, BH12 5BB, U.K
| | - Martin J Smith
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Christchurch House, Bournemouth, BH12 5BB, U.K
| | - Amanda H Korstjens
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Christchurch House, Bournemouth, BH12 5BB, U.K
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