Life Among the Tombstones: Forensics Crosses Paths with Hoodoo

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.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Forensic Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage