national museum of iceland bodies of evidence prof tim thompson fcsfs [email protected]...

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ICELAND

BODIES OF EVIDENCE

Prof Tim Thompson FCSFS

[email protected]

School of Science & EngineeringTeesside UniversityBorough Rd, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BAT: (01642) 342535

TODAY’S TALK

Television programmes make ‘CSI’ crime scene investigations and forensic sciences seem exciting and glamorous — which of course they are! In this talk I will discuss how archaeology and

anthropology fit into the investigative process and will look at the nature of the case work that we see in the north east of England. We will also look at how researchers at Teesside University are

tackling the challenges of this case work head-on, and will explore how this is being used in forensic contexts far beyond the Tees

Valley. I will also discuss how our work on burned bone and non-contact scanning and visualisation in particular is also benefiting a

range of archaeological contexts and studies.


FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UK


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WHAT IS FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY?

Forensic anthropology is best described as the analysis of human remains for medicolegal purposes

of establishing identity

Black (2004)

The word ‘forensic’ simply means belonging to courts of law … ‘forensic’ refers to the context of the

application of science or theory as opposed to the actual technique itself. Thus forensic anthropology is

the application of anthropology, usually biological anthropology, to the forensic context.

Thompson (2003)

The identification of human remains is of paramount importance in medico-legal investigations. Beyond the

humanitarian considerations of such a task, identification is essential for the completion and certification of official documents such as death

certificates, probates of wills and disbursements of benefits and insurance.

Scientific identification of human remains may be accomplished by fingerprint, dental, anthropological,

genetic or radiological examination.

Kahana and Hiss (2000)

Eventually, the Mothers of Vukovar came full circle, as almost all the bodies were positively identified.

Public funerals were held for weeks and some were televised. To see footage of them made me cry. We

had revised these women’s - and everyone’s - memories of the past and thus were affecting the

future.

Koff (2004, p229)

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UK


WHAT ARE THE KEY FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY PROBLEMS?


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THE BONES MAY BE IN THE GROUND…

WE MAY HAVE INCOMPLETE RECOVERY

MIDDLESBROUGH

REDCAR

THE BODIES ARE NOT NECESSARILY NICELY LAID OUT

MIDDLESBROUGH


ANTHROPOLOGY@TU


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UN-MINGLING COMMINGLED REMAINS

RECOVERING ARTEFACTS AND INTELLIGENCE FROM THE

GRAVESITE

AQUATIC TAPHONOMY

BURNED BONE

HEAT-INDUCED COLOUR CHANGE

METRIC MEASUREMENTS

Gonçalves et al., 2013, JFLM

THE CRYSTALLINITY INDEX

Summary of CI values using FTIR-KBr

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Temperature (C)

CI

Munro et al., 2007 (A) Munro et al., 2007 (B) Piga et al., early view Koon et al., 2003 Thompson et al., 2009 Nagy et al., 2008 (Mod)

THE CRYSTALLINITY INDEX: BLIND TESTING

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sample Number

Tem

per

atu

re (

Cel

siu

s)

ATR

KBr

TRUE VALUES

Thompson et al., 2009, JAS

THE CRYSTALLINITY INDEX: BLIND TESTING

NEW CRYSTALLINITY INDICES

Thompson et al., 2013, JAS

CI = (565cm-1 + 605cm-1) / 595cm-1 C/P = 1415cm-1 / 1035cm-1CO/P = 1650cm-1 / 1035cm-1 CO/CO3 = 1650cm-1 / 1415cm-1 CO3/P = 900cm-1 / 1035cm-1 Phosphate High Temperature = 625cm-1 / 610cm-1Line width = the full width at half maximum of the phosphate peak at 1035 cm-1

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXAMPLES

NON-CONTACT SCANNING

Kiviruut et al., Aakre excavationsPhotogrammetric display of Aakre grave

NON-CONTACT SCANNING

Errickson et al., 2014, JoFRI

TEESSIDE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

BODIES OF EVIDENCE


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http://blogs.tees.ac.uk/anthropology/

national museum of iceland bodies of evidence prof tim thompson fcsfs [email protected]...

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