UCL Institute of Archaeology

Forensic

Forensic archaeology and anthropology are two disciplines used by police forces to aid in crime investigation. Particularly forensic archaeology is applied where a search, location and retrieval of a body or bodies is needed within an gamut of contexts including homicides, human rights abuses, mass disasters and missing individuals, thereby exhuming from single or mass graves, and searching on surface. At the mortuary, forensic anthropology is applied to identify those bodies that cannot be conventionally identified as in severely burnt bodies, skeletonised, dismembered or badly decomposed by analysing the skeletal tissue. For a successful legal outcome both disciplines should work hand in hand. By being placed in London, students at the Institute of Archaeology have the opportunity to view and handle reference collections housed in various institutions and have lectures delivered by experienced members of the London Metropolitan Police and London fire brigade. The Institute of Archaeology conducts a mock crime scene each year for students to implement their skills.

Research

Projects

• Experimental Forensic analyses
• Macroscopic Characteristics of Screwdriver Trauma
• Mass Grave excavation at Tell Fakhriya, Ras al-Ain, Syria
• Recuperation of the Historical Memory - Human Rights violations in Spain

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People

• Roxana Ferllini

Degrees

• MSc in Forensic Archaeological Science

Courses

graduate

• Forensic Archaeological Science
• Forensic anthropology

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