Forensic Archaeology (Other Keyword)
1-25 (64 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Applying the Power of Partnerships to the Search for America's Missing in Action" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In September 2019, American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR) served as the lead partner of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in the search for aircrew losses associated with a World War II-era B-24H crash in southern England. Fieldwork consisted of a site survey and bulk excavation. Over a...
Altered States: Evaluating Postmortem Modification of Dental Tissues (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Teeth are the most likely skeletal elements to survive taphonomic insult, but are not impervious to diagenetic changes. The bulk of dietary, migratory, and climatic studies pursued by bioarchaeologists are reliant on unaltered preservation of dental tissue. Yet, contextual value of depositional environments is often overlooked. Though study of the physical,...
Application of Dietary Isotopes to Estimate Temporal Context of Unidentified Remains in British Columbia Canada (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Isotopic analysis has been used in archaeological and forensic contexts to examine diet, migration, trace evidence, and the origin of individuals. This project examines whether individuals were of a forensic or archaeological context using δ13C, δ15N, and δ34Sisotope values on behalf of the British Columbia Coroners Service. Carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur...
Applying the Power of Partnerships to the Search for America's Missing in Action (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Applying the Power of Partnerships to the Search for America's Missing in Action" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel from past conflicts to their families and the nation. We search for missing personnel from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars, and other recent...
"An Arson, A Wig, and a Murder": The Search for Particia Calloway (2017)
Patricia Calloway was reported missing from Henderson, Kentucky on March 3, 1993. She was last seen in the company of her brother-in-law, Gene Calloway. On October 17, 2012, arrest warrants were executed for Gene and his wife Debra for the felony counts of homicide, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and retaliation against a participant in a legal process. Debra was convicted, but Gene died while awaiting trial. Prior to his death, Gene prepared a crudely drawn map of the body disposal...
An Atlas of Rare Lost and Forgotten Physical Signs (2009)
A field manual of disease signs for archaeologists working with human remains and medical anthropologists and clinicians working with indigenous cultures. Compiled over twenty years of forensic investigation at some of the world’s most sensitive archaeological sites in Asia - including Russia, China, India and Turkey, the Middle East, North and Sub-Sahara Africa, England, Scotland, Ireland, Twelve additional countries in Europe, North and Central America, and South America including the Amazon...
Aztec Ruins, Architecture and Augmented Reality (2018)
(please consider for Poster After Dark) The mounds immediately south of Aztec West were partially excavated in 1916, 1934 and 1960. These data have not yet been synthesized. Taken together, information from pottery, photographs, sketch maps and grey literature indicate the presence of masonry walls, possible staircases, and depositional patterns that are analogous to the Pueblo Bonito mounds. This poster will show these data in both traditional (2 dimensional) and augmented (3 dimensional)...
Beyond the Basin: Forensic Archaeology in Tennessee (2017)
As professors at Hamilton College, G. Tom Jones and Charlotte Beck taught their students how to engage in research and how to be effective instructors in the classroom. I have used these lessons to build a career in forensic anthropology. My long-term research at the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee has centered on establishing techniques to best examine burned bones and also on the application of geophysical methods to locate clandestine graves. This research has led...
A Bird's-Eye View: Utilizing Wartime Aerial Imagery to Recover the Remains of a US Servicemember from the Vietnam War (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is responsible for the recovery and identification of missing US servicemembers from past conflicts, including the Vietnam War. This case study involves over 25 years of investigation efforts that led to the recovery of an O-1 Bird Dog pilot shot down over Laos in 1967. The long investigative history for this case...
A Birds Eye View of War: The Role of Historic Maps and Aerial-Based Imagery in the Archaeological investigation of Unaccounted-For U.S. military Personnel. (2017)
As "snapshot" documents of the past, historical maps, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery are a valuable source for the archaeological investigation of major conflicts throughout the past eight decades. Although many of these documents were initially acquired and then maintained in secret in the context of major conflict or clandestine purposes, decades later they are proving to be of much benefit and unintended value for historical and archaeological research. This paper will present an...
Bridging the Gap: Bringing Archaeology into the Forensic Forum (2016)
Archaeological excavations are much like crime scene investigations in that to study them, is to destroy them. Consequently, full-scale documentation, cataloguing, and proper packaging techniques are critical components of archaeological and forensic fieldwork. Archaeologists have the additional benefit to law enforcement of being trained to conduct line and grid searches, interpret soils for evidence of disturbance, and perform exhumations using standardized excavation techniques. Law...
Can we all get along? Bridging the divide between forensic anthropologists, forensic archaeologists, and law enforcement personnel (2016)
Despite being stakeholders with many shared goals, the working relationships between forensic anthropologists, forensic archaeologists, and their colleagues in law enforcement are often strained. The authors argue that cultural differences among the groups have contributed to the underuse and misuse of forensic anthropologists and archaeologists both in the United States and elsewhere, resulting in investigations that are neither as anthropological nor as scientific as juries and the public are...
A Case Study of Legal and Practical Pitfalls of Forensic Archaeology Recovery of Human Remains from a New Orleans Pauper Cemetery (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Forensic Archaeology: Research & Practice" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Many coroners’ offices in the State of Louisiana have a contract for interring unclaimed or unidentified individuals, keeping their coolers clear for new bodies. Therefore, the public relies on interment to document the location of the body in the event that family members require disinterment in the future. When these contracts are with private...
Close-Range Photogrammetry Applications in Outdoor Forensic Scene Documentation (2018)
The use of close-range photogrammetry (CRP) for 3D documentation is becoming a standard practice for archaeological site documentation. Less explored, however, is the utility of CRP to document forensic scenes, especially those involving skeletal remains. Since digital camera documentation is already a standard practice at forensic scenes, additional data captured for CRP can be included alongside standard site photography. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the utility of...
The Complexities of Managing Global Forensic Archaeology with Differing Archaeological Entities, including CRM Firms, Private NGOs, University Researchers, and Field Schools in the Search for Missing US Servicemen. (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Forensic Archaeology: Research & Practice" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is a US DoD organization that has the awesome responsibility of conducting and managing world-wide forensic archaeological excavations to recover missing US military servicemen from past conflicts. The DPAA-Lab (which traces back to 1947) has the sole forensic authority to make positive identifications of...
Creative Problem-Solving for Unconventional Conditions: Archaeological Recovery of a WWII Aircraft Crash Site, Ko’olau Mountain Range, Island of O’ahu, State of Hawaii, U.S.A. (2019)
This is an abstract from the "A Multidimensional Mission: Crossing Conflicts, Synthesizing Sites, and Adapting Approaches to Find Missing Personnel" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Conventional archaeological sites, with their relatively level topography and wide-open spaces to accommodate excavations, are not typically encountered by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Archaeologist. The majority of sites encountered by DPAA field...
Depictions of Human Trophies in Arabian Rock Art (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ritualistic use of various detached human body parts is a circumglobal phenomenon that has been documented for cultures extending backward through time for millennia. Its symbolic purposes are diverse, but war trophies and ancestor worship are two of the most common. Artists’ depictions of displays of human body parts...
Displacement and Burials in Wartime Acholiland; Archaeological Surveying and Ethnographic Research in Northern Uganda (2018)
A multi-subfield anthropological research team from the University of Tennessee Knoxville has been conducting fieldwork in Acholiland since 2014 in order to analyze how improper burials are affecting the cultural and geospatial reality of post-war Northern Uganda. The project has primarily involved ethnographic research; however, archaeological surveying was introduced in 2016 for the purpose of locating and documenting wartime burials. The concerned burials are related to the 1987 to 2006 war...
DPAA's Efforts to Address Unresolved U.S. Military Overwater and In-water Loss Incidents and Underwater Sites (2017)
A significant portion of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)'s unresolved loss cases involve incidents that occurred over water, at sea, or otherwise within a body of water. In the context of underwater forensic archaeology, addressing these cases require a complex process of historical and archival research; large-scale GIS analysis; investigation and correlation with known incidents; and site search, survey, and recovery activities to the extent possible. The end goal is to recover...
The Ethics and Practice of Forensic Archaeology, Unfunded Mandates, and the Unidentified (2018)
In 2001, California passed SB 297, which mandated that coroners "shall collect samples for DNA testing from the remains of all unidentified persons and shall send those samples to the Department of Justice for DNA testing and inclusion in the DNA data bank." This legislation, which was largely unfunded by the state, expanded existing DNA testing programs to include remains from cold cases that were being stored by state agencies and remains that had been interred in cemeteries throughout the...
Finding Solace: Recovering Human Cremations from the Ashes of a Firestorm (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. On October 9, 2017, a firestorm swept through northern California. Eventually reaching over 180,000-acres, the wildfire destroyed more than 8,400 buildings and killed 42 people. Thousands of families lost their homes and all their possessions. In many instances, the cremated remains of previously deceased family members were stored in urns within the home. A...
Footprint Analysis of the Sunset Road Rillito Fan Site, AZ AA:12:788(ASM) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Community Matters: Enhancing Student Learning Opportunities through the Development of Community Partnerships" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In March 2016 a study investigating human footprints discovered at the Rillito Fan Site, AZ AA 12:788(ASM), located in Pima County, Arizona, was conducted by Pima Community College archaeology staff and students, in partnership with other Pima County-based archaeological...
Forensic Archaeological Investigation and Recovery of Underwater U.S. Naval Aircraft Wreck Sites: Two Case Studies from Palau and Papua New Guinea (2016)
This paper will examine two recent underwater forensic archaeological efforts undertaken by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to address Second World War-era U.S. Naval aircraft wreck sites associated with unaccounted-for U.S. Military service members. These efforts, in the Republic of Palau and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, serve as case studies that illustrate the intersection between the responsibility of site preservation, and the duty of personnel accounting via...
Forensic Archaeology and Today’s Student: Managing Expectations and Providing Rigor While Maintaining Best Practices (2015)
Fueled by the media and uniformed academic advisors, students are flooding into the field of forensics, often with unrealistic expectations of success and future employment. Although careers in forensic anthropology and archaeology are difficult to attain, today’s practitioners have the responsibility to prepare and train the field’s future members. This paper discusses the 2014 field season of the Unidentified Persons Project, a twenty-three student forensic archaeology field school that took...
Forensic Archaeology Fieldwork as a High-Impact Practice (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Applying the Power of Partnerships to the Search for America's Missing in Action" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation will discuss search and recovery efforts concerning an isolated, World War II-era burial from the Federal Republic of Germany. This was a project partnership between the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and Western Carolina University (WCU), coordinated between DPAA, WCU, and...