Canine Detection of Scattered Scent from Historic Dismembered Human Bodies

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Nondestructive Alternatives: Canine Remote Sensing (Scenting)" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

One of the most difficult canine detection tasks for historic human remains detection dogs is finding the scent from a dismembered body that is hundreds of years old. When a body is not buried and left on surface, animal activity will scatter the bones and flesh over hundreds of meters. Each of these pieces of flesh and bone will decompose and deposit their decomposition scent into the soil. The intensity of these multiple scent sources is orders of magnitude weaker than the scent from a buried body. In some cases, the scent will only be slightly above a dog’s threshold of detection. Minor differences in the environmental conditions can change whether a particular location is positive or negative for scent. This paper will explore multiple historic sites where bodies were not buried and canine detection indicated scattered scent over a wide area.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Nondestructive Alternatives: Canine Remote Sensing (Scenting)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52434