An Autopsy of the Grave: Recognizing, Collecting, and Preserving Forensic Geotaphonomic Evidence

The use of archaeological methods on buried body crime scenes is not new to forensic science. Boddington et al. (1987), Brothwell (1981), Heizer and Graham (1967), Morse et al. (1983), Roberts et al. (1989), Skinner and Lazenby (1983), Ubelaker (1989), and others have become standard references in crime scene training; however, the actual application of formal archaeological techniques is too often ignored or shortcut to the point of absence at many crime scenes. At other sites, archaeology may be used without considering the recent, and forensic, contexts of scenes and the artifacts they include.