Archaeologists bring a number of particular skills to the table: the
identification of ground disturbance from surface indications and from
geophysics; meticulous excavation, detailed recording and the recovery of
small objects; and the identification of decayed and fragmentary finds,
particularly animal and human bone. Just as important is the archaeological
awareness of context and sequence.^1
Forensic archaeology
Forensic archaeology has been in the news lately in many countries,
particularly Britain and the USA. Several cases have hit the headlines, such as
the Jersey care home scandal and investigations into a possible serial killer in
Margate. Following the discovery of two bodies at a house in the town, police
believe that they may be on the trail of a serial killer who has been murdering
women since the 1960s. Their suspect has moved around a great deal over the
period and a number of addresses came under investigation. Forensic
archaeologists examined the properties using the kind of equipment usually
employed to identify archaeological sites, and have found a number of‘hot
spots’within the houses and gardens that may prove to be the locations of
other murdered victims. DNA evidence is also being studied and may link the
Margate crimes to as many as fifteen other‘cold case’investigations.^2
The meticulous approaches and skills of archaeologists were used in a case
in the Midlands, following the murder of a prostitute. Her body could not be
found, but her DNA was present in the flat belonging to a suspect. In the yard
behind the flat, detectives noticed the remains of a recent bonfire.
Archaeologists were called in to excavate the layers of ash in the bonfire and
discovered cremated animal bones, but in the lowest layer they found tiny
burned fragments of what they recognised as human bone, as well as a tooth
and a set of door keys, which were identified as being those of the victim. In
other cases, archaeologists have been able to find possible burial places of
murder victims, and also to exclude certain areas from an investigation
because they could demonstrate that these had lain undisturbed since before
the crime.
Such successes are based on the first principle of archaeological excavation
- an understanding of stratigraphy and context. Each event in the past is
represented in the soil as a context; contexts occur in time and space, and the
recording of these in relation to each other form the stratigraphy, or layers, of
a site. If you were to dig a pit in your garden, you would be forming a series
of contexts–there would be the topsoil and subsoils that you dig through, the
marks your spade is making, and the remains of whatever you put into the
ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT