Week 5 - Forensic archaeology, anthropology and ecology

Forensic archaeology

Applies archaeological methods to locate, excavate, and analyze human remains and other evidence at crime scenes

Main tasks of a forensic archaeologist

• Evidence searches

• Evidence recovery

• Evidence recording

• Scene interpretation

Forensic anthropology

The analysis of skeletonized remains in the context of a criminal investigation, can determine whether body is human, what age it is, gender, ancestry, individual features, form of death, dismemberment, time since death

What can skeletons indicate?

• Age

• Gender - pelvis wider in women

• Handedness - bones in dominant hand slightly thicker through repetitive use (in older people)

• Damage/medical work

• Oesteobiography

• Distinct and individual damage