ABSTRACT

This chapter explains that any training regimen in forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology should begin with a thorough understanding of methods for locating buried human remains. The value of archaeologists in the realm of forensics can be categorized colloquially into two broad contributions: archaeologists are good at systematically finding things that are buried; and they are good at systematically recovering what they find. Traditional survey involves the systematic inspection of a large surface area, often hundreds of square meters or even square kilometers, for the presence of surface indicators of subsurface features. A typical pedestrian survey involves the searchers walking a circumscribed area in a systematic fashion, such as a skirmish line or linear transects spaced at regular intervals. Probing is the least technical of the traditional subsurface testing procedures, but it is fast and inexpensive to accomplish. Also the remote sensing technologies should not be misinterpreted as bone-finders.