University of Maryland Forensic Aviation Archaeology Field School

Summary

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 University of Maryland Department of Anthropology has partnered with DPAA since 2016 for the recovery of American MIA military personnel. UMD faculty developed a summer field school through the Education Abroad program, with support from the UMD Department of Anthropology and the University of Vienna’s Institute of Prehistory and Historical Archaeology. The course includes one week of classroom and hands-on instruction and five weeks of excavation. We have taken 24 US students to work on two aircraft crash sites in Austria over the past four years. DPAA protocols are followed. Students learn archaeological techniques, recognition of human remains and probative evidence, basic forensic science, documentation, inventory, photography, and mapping. The faculty supervises and reviews all excavation and recovery and provides DPAA with standardized reports, both daily and at the end of the field season. This partnership provides students with specialized training, the experience of traveling and living in a foreign country, and a chance to work with students from several institutions, including the University of Vienna. The University of Maryland is honored to be a part of this important recovery program, and hopes to continue the work with its annual field school.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Applying the Power of Partnerships to the Search for America's Missing in Action   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33207