Life Among the Tombstones: Forensics Crosses Paths with Hoodoo

Author(s): Sharon Moses

Year: 2016

Summary

African magic rituals among the graves of the recently dead in the South and elsewhere may not be as rare as one might think. This paper is an exploration of a case wherein the author was called in as a forensic archaeologist and consultant to law enforcement investigating a case of cemetery desecrations with supernatural overtones. Further, during the course of this investigation, possible connections between the author's historical archaeological research excavation of a slave street on a former plantation and its descendants came to light. Faced with the dilemma of assisting law enforcement yet maintaining confidentiality of descendant populations, this is also an examination of ethics when forensics, religious culture, and research cross paths.

Cite this Record

Life Among the Tombstones: Forensics Crosses Paths with Hoodoo. Sharon Moses. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 402971)

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.274; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -72.642; max lat: 36.386 ;