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Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Search and Location of Buried Bodies: A United Kingdom Context

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Soil in Criminal and Environmental Forensics

Part of the book series: Soil Forensics ((SOFO))

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, the discipline of forensic archaeology has established itself in the United Kingdom as a primary method of detection for buried human remains. This has been achieved predominantly through the recognition of specific variations, patterning and disturbances in landscape, geological, botanical and ground signatures. These interpretations have subsequently been greatly enhanced by an increasingly sophisticated understanding, adoption and utilisation of geophysical search equipment and search techniques. In addition, the application of traditional archaeological excavation methodologies to criminal investigations that involve buried human remains can be seen to have become an important milestone in optimising an investigating team’s ability to elucidate and extract evidence from the grave and burial environment (Hunter et al. 1995; Groen et al. 2015).

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Correspondence to Karl Harrison .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Harrison, K., Dawson, L., Mackinnon, G. (2016). Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Search and Location of Buried Bodies: A United Kingdom Context. In: Kars, H., van den Eijkel, L. (eds) Soil in Criminal and Environmental Forensics. Soil Forensics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33115-7_13

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