Graves Flashcards
What is the forensic definition of graves?
The practice of concealing a body in the ground
What is the normal definition of a grave?
An excavation for burial of a body broadly: a burial place
What are the 3 tyes of burial?
- Primary burial
- Secondary burial
- Multiple burial
What is a primary burial?
- Remains in original deposition location w/out context disturbance.
- Skeleton usually fully articulated.
What is a secondary burial?
- Remains moved from or disturbed within original deposition location (e.g. human/animal intervention).
- Remains often jumbled/incomplete.
What is a multiple burial?
- A single grave containing two or more individuals.
- May be primary or secondary deposits.
- Not necessarily the same as a mass burial.
What causes partly covered remains?
Little to no effort in concealment OR remains eroded out.
What are the two types of surface deposits?
- Primary
- Secondary
What are primary surface deposits?
The original location of remains; characterised by the presence of decompositional soil staining and the highest concentration of remains.
What is secondary surface remains?
Displacement & scattering of remains by taphonomic processes.
What are indicators of surface and buried remains?
- Disturbed plant roots
- Upcast remaining on the surface
- Different vegetation (trampled and disturbed)
- New plant growth
What is the position of the body usually related to?
Shape and size of the grave
How should the position of a body be described?
- Best described through the relationship of legs, arms and head to each other and to the trunk of the body.
- Position should not be described in relation to
grave
What is the Forensic Anthropologist’s job?
- Differentiation of non-human vs human remains
- Skeletal inventory
- Search methods for missing elements
- Initial field assessment of biological information
What is the Forensic Archaeologists job?
- Ground search methods
- Survey techniques
- Geophysical search methods
- Site formation analysis and description
- Mapping techniques
- Recovery techniques
- Spatial controls
- Use of heavy equipment
- Basic recognition of skeletal anatomy
- Artifact collection, documentation & preservation
- Site recording
- Sample collection
- Collection & preservation of skeletal remains & associated evidence
- Exhumation for cold case reviews
- Contextual dating of bones