The Use of Human Remains Detection Dogs to Locate Empty Gravesites after Cultural Exhumation Practices in a Nineteenth-Century Chinese Cemetery in Warren, Idaho

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Canine Resources for the Archaeologist" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological practice demands international preservation of the cultural integrity of Indigenous and historical burials informed by decedent communities. Therefore, it is paramount to explore efficient, minimally invasive methods limiting burial disturbance, while allowing documentation. Coupled with ground-penetrating radar (GPR), human remains detection dogs (HRDs) have been used in archaeological settings for this purpose. Yet, not all graves contain bodies and not all terrain supports GPR. We present a case in which HRDs aided in locating historical exhumed graves from a nineteenth-century Chinese cemetery in the remote mining town of Warren, Idaho. From 1870 to 1920, 29 individuals were buried here. At this time, Chinese-American immigrants temporarily buried their deceased, exhumed the bodies, processed/boiled bodies to remove tissue, and returned the bones to the villages of the deceased in China. While the rugged, steep, and tree-covered terrain of Warren was impenetrable for GPR, HRDs detected the odor of human decomposition from the exhumed pits, grave mounds, and the location of structural ruins where body processing occurred. HRDs assisted with locating multiple exhumed graves outside the modern fence line and locating one intact grave. These results supported those from archaeological recovery of grave offerings, contributed to re-mapping, and retained site integrity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Canine Resources for the Archaeologist   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37350.0