Forensic archaeology investigates crime scenes using an archaeological approach, often focusing on burial sites, burnt buildings, and natural areas. Scientists remove unrelated items to reconstruct the crime and age the scene to determine when the crime occurred. They provide credible testimony in court to construct a three-dimensional picture of the crime scene.
Forensic archeology is the process of investigating a crime scene using an archaeological approach. By excavating the area of a suspected crime scene, the forensic archeology team is able to sift through mounds of dirt in an attempt to isolate and identify a single piece of evidence. Burial sites, burnt buildings, and other natural areas such as fence lines are common areas that a forensic archeology team might investigate for clues and evidence. Occasionally police departments will employ a forensic archeology team to attempt to recreate a crime scene by combing the area, much like an archaeological dig is conducted when searching for prehistoric civilizations, dinosaurs, and buildings.
A forensic archeology scientist’s job is often to purge objects found within a crime scene from being connected to the crime. By removing unrelated items from a crime scene, it usually becomes slightly easier to reconstruct the crime. Any unrelated piece of evidence that cannot be successfully cleared from the crime scene can consume valuable time as investigators attempt to see how it relates to the crime. It is very common for the forensic archeology team to spend more time disposing of objects than actually reconstructing the crime itself.
Much like aging a particular fossil or relic to determine the age of the find, the forensic archeology scientist is often asked to age a particular crime scene to determine when the crime may have been committed. This is especially true with the identification of unearthed burial sites or found skeletal remains. Rates of decomposition, seasonal vegetation found within the scene, and grave depth can often be clues to the age, time of year, and method of a crime scene. Exposed skeletal remains can often be identified and aged by the amount of sun bleaching that has occurred.
When attempting to prove a time frame for the commission of a crime, a prosecutor commonly relies on the testimony of a forensic archeology expert. The scientist is able to provide credible testimony regarding the evaluation of the crime scene, the age of the crime scene, and other items recovered from the crime scene that may relate to the crime. Similar to the methods archaeologists use to gain an understanding of primitive or prehistoric life, forensic archeology is often able to construct a realistic, three-dimensional picture of an otherwise flat and often imperceptible crime scene.
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