Going to the Dogs: Forensic Canine Surveys at Mission San Antonio de Padua, California

Summary

Two surveys by the Institute of Canine Forensics were conducted at Mission San Antonio de Padua (1771-1834) in 2013.  The first was a traditional field survey around the outside of the mission cemetery and in other areas known to contain more recent human burials.  The second was a survey of the archaeological collections of the archaeological field school (1776-2004), in a completely new application of this method. Dogs specially trained and certified in historic human remains detection examined both areas.  Canine forensics is a non-destructive, cost and time efficient, and culturally acceptable method of  prediction that is embraced by both preservationists and Native Americans.  Negative evidence is straightforward, but positive alerts require more interpretation.  This survey confirms oral traditions and reveals additional data that was not known.  As site preservation receives greater emphasis, such methods will become much more widespread as they are in other parts of the world.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Poster Session 3

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 11