Chapter 1
Introduction
Murder, assault, thievery, fraud–for as long as there have been groups of
humans living together, these and many other forms of crime have been
committed. In this book, we shall take a look at the record of crime and
punishment in this and other countries, and at the contribution of archaeology,
history and forensic science to the identification of crimes, victims and
perpetrators, as well as forms of punishment. For earlier periods, archaeology
must be our main source of information, while historical documents help to
illuminate more recent events. Even when studying more recent times,
however, archaeology is playing an increasing part in helping us to understand
crimes and the ways in which societies have dealt with criminals.
In the 1970s and 1980s, police forces started to ask archaeologists to help
find important evidence at scenes of certain types of crime. Subsequently, the
methodology and skills of archaeologists were put into service for the
investigation of other types of events, such as mass disasters, and the finding
and identification of victims of war crimes. Today, the police and other
agencies regularly employ forensic archaeologists to help them locate and
evaluate material evidence at scenes of crime. Their job is to look for buried
items–to give names to victims and to find items that may help to identify
criminals, such as the weapons used in the commission of an offence. They
are also asked to help find bodies and to establish how and when they died and
were buried. Some of the most harrowing work in this area occurs during the
investigations of massacres committed as war crimes. Not only is the forensic
archaeologist responsible for helping to identify victims for their families, but
also to recover the evidence needed to prosecute their killers. Forensic
archaeologists work at disaster scenes such as air crashes and tsunamis to
identify the dead. In addition they also investigate ancient crimes, using
modern forensic science to shed light on murders that took place centuries