The Corporeality of Death: Bioarchaeological, Taphonomic, and Forensic Anthropological Studies of Human Remains
Dr. Clara Alfsdotter, Bohusläns museum, successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation in May at Linnaeus University.
With a ten-year professional background in archaeology and osteology (the scientific study of bones), Clara Alfsdotter's research has developed from osteoarcheology into the forensic field. In addition to studies of archaeological human remains, her Ph.D. dissertation addresses forensic anthropology (based in the study of osteological remains in a forensic setting) and forensic taphonomy (postmortem processes). In many countries, forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology are used in law enforcement cases and humanitarian projects involving human remains, since archaeology — much like crime scene investigation – aims to reconstruct chains of past events from material remnants combined with appropriate theoretical explanatory frameworks.
Human remains analyses needs to address what happened prior to death, around the time of death, and following death. For this, taphonomic knowledge is essential. To distinguish ‘natural causes’ from human manipulation of remains or trauma sustained in connection to the death, knowledge of agents affecting human remains is paramount. This can for example include animal scavenging, sedimentation, weathering — and not least — the decomposition process itself. This led Alfsdotter to want to conduct human decomposition research. She reached out to the Forensic Anthropology Center, Texas State University (FACTS) in 2016, that hosts a human decomposition facility that accept willed human body donations. Alfsdotter is now an affiliated researcher at FACTS, where she’s researching human decomposition in coffins as well as directly in soil.
While the experimental studies in Texas can shed light on specific research questions on human decomposition in burial scenarios, a general knowledge of human decomposition outdoors in Sweden, and Scandinavia in general, is lacking. A first attempt to amend this resulted in a regional study by Alfsdotter and Dr. Anja Petaros, Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine. The retrospective study has already been used in multiple cases where the Police needs to know what state of human remains to look for in aquatic and terrestrial cases.
Lastly, Alfsdotter’s dissertation includes a study that analyses the state and potential future development of forensic anthropology and archaeology within Swedish law enforcement. The interview study showed that law enforcement employees saw several benefits with expanding this competence, but that some issues need to be addressed. Based on the interviews and knowledge from other countries, it was concluded that the development would benefit from a quantification of cases that can be aided by forensic anthropology and archaeology, professional education in the subjects, a national infrastructure that facilitates proper handling of cases with buried, burned, or skeletal human remains, as well as accreditation of practitioners.
There are currently Swedish initiatives that aim to develop the links between archaeology, osteology, and forensic professionals. One such initiative is the national ForArk professional network started by Dr. Anna McWilliams, for which Alfsdotter is chair. ForArk aims to enhance collaboration and knowledge exchange between the fields. ForArk members come from various backgrounds including archaeology, osteology, forensic medicine, crime scene investigation, entomology, geology, and sociology.