Forensic Archaeology

A Global Perspective

W. J. Mike Groen, Nicholas Márquez-Grant, Rob Janaway

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781118745946
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Forensic Science
• Index: Law

Forensic archaeology is mostly defined as the use of archaeological methods and principles within a legal context. However, such a definition only covers one aspect of forensic archaeology and misses the full potential this discipline has to offer. This volume is unique in that it contains 57 chapters from experienced forensic archaeological practitioners working in different countries, intergovernmental organisations or NGO's. It shows that the practice of forensic archaeology varies worldwide as a result of diverse historical, educational, legal and judicial backgrounds. The chapters in this volume will be an invaluable reference to (forensic) archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, humanitarian and human rights workers, forensic scientists, police officers, professionals working in criminal justice systems and all other individuals who are interested in the potential forensic archaeology has to offer at scenes of crime or places of incident. This volume promotes the development of forensic archaeology worldwide. In addition, it proposes an interpretative framework that is grounded in archaeological theory and methodology, integrating affiliated behavioural and forensic sciences.

PART 1
Europe

CHAPTER 1
Forensic archaeology and anthropology in Austria

Fabian Kanz¹ and Jan Cemper-Kiesslich²

¹ Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

² Interfaculty Department of Legal Medicine, University of Salzburg, Austria

Introduction

In general, archaeological disciplines are closely linked to the local historical, climatic and geographical conditions within the area of research. This is especially true for forensic archaeology, including aspects of the legal system and crime statistics such as the number of missing persons or murder cases. This chapter gives an overview of Austria’s geographical and legal characteristics with regard to forensic archaeological and closely related anthropological works, the educational institutions involved and future perspectives.

Overview of Austria

Austria is a federal Republic with an area of 83,879 km². It is divided into nine administrative states called Bundesländer. The country is landlocked and is geographically situated in Central Europe with borders to the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lichtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The country is mountainous, with the Alps occupying about 60% of the territory, and about 43% of Austria is forested. Two-thirds of Austria (68%) is located higher than 500 m above sea level. The climate is characterised by distinct seasons, with an overall temperature between 8 and 10 °C in the most populated areas. Austria has a population of approximately 8.5 million, an average of around 100 people per square kilometer, with more than a quarter of the whole population concentrated around the capital Vienna, which hosts all the federal authorities. Additional agglomerations are found around the cities of Linz and Graz, the Inn valley and the Rhine valley to the west of the country.¹

The legal framework affecting forensic archaeology and anthropology

The intersection of five federal bodies forms the framework of forensic archaeology and anthropology: the police, attached to the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium für Inneres), the prosecution and sworn-in experts from the Federal Ministry of Justice (Bundesministerium für Justiz), the Federal Monuments Office (Bundesdenkmalamt) of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture Ministry (Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur) and the Federal Ministry of Science and Research (Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung). The regulations of federal laws and state laws in the nine federal states of Austria affect work in this new field.

Federal laws include the criminal code, which regulates criminal procedures and autopsy regulations for the coroner’s inquest. Additional federal laws affecting the work of forensic archaeologists and anthropologists in Austria are the Austrian state or independence treaty (Staatsvertrag betreffend die Wiederherstellung eines unabhängigen und demokratischen Österreich; Vienna, May 15 1955), which regulates the procedures on war graves, and also the Monument Protections Act (Denkmalschutzgesetz), which defines archaeological sites. These federal laws are supplemented by the civil code, which respects the landowner’s rights.^2,3

Because of the federal system with the division into states there are additionally nine state laws dealing with different corpse and burial regulations.

In Austrian law there is a particular system of sworn-in experts, the so-called Allgemein beeideter und gerichtlich zertifizierter Sachverständiger,⁴ who can be called in by the prosecutor if police forces do not have the expertise to complete the investigation by themselves. These sworn-in experts have to fulfil several requirements, including 10 years of experience in the field, trustworthiness, equipment and expertise verified by a court examination executed by two experts and a judge. If they fulfil these requirements, they will be sworn in by the court and their names will be published in a public list of experts by the Ministry of Justice.⁵ At the moment there are four sworn-in archaeological experts on this list, but none for forensic archaeology and just one sworn-in expert for forensic anthropology (the first author).

Forensic archaeology and anthropology in Austria

Forensic archaeology

To our knowledge there is only one group in Austria dealing with forensic archaeology, the Study Group Forensic Archaeology (Arbeitskreis Forensische Archäologie).⁶ This group is associated with the Institute of Prehistory and Historic Archaeology (Institut für Urgeschichte und Historische Archäologie) at the University of Vienna. This institute also has a unit working on modern archaeology. The study group was founded in 2005 by Mr Peter Pesseg and Mr Thomas Pototschnig, and focuses predominantly on the search and recovery of World War II (WWII) mass graves, namely in Rechnitz in the state of Burgenland.

Forensic anthropology

In Austria forensic anthropology as a discipline was introduced for the first time in 2010 in the Department of Forensic Medicine (Department für Gerichtsmedizin) at the Medical University of Vienna; however, a unit for physical anthropology was established in the department as early as 1958.

Forensic archaeology and anthropology within the police

Austrian police can be subdivided into Municipal Police Forces (Gemeindesicherheitswache) and the Federal Police Force (Bundespolizei), which is subdivided into nine administrative state commands. There are no official forensic archaeologists or anthropologists employed in these police forces. In the curricula of the Police Academies as well there are no archaeologists or anthropologists involved in teaching or training. The same is true for the curricula of Austrian forensic pathologists (Facharzt für Gerichtsmedizin). Austrian Federal Police students get an introduction and a guideline as to how to work forensically at a crime scene. They are taught photography, photogrammetry and how to measure and draw crime scenes to create an evidence report. There is a standardised evidence report form used by Austrian police forces so that every policeman would be able to document non-complex crime scenes. For more complex crime scenes the Austrian Federal Police force has its own specialised Scene of Crime units (Tatortgruppen). These small groups, which generally perform the searches for clandestine burials and subsequent exhumations, consist, very often, of highly motivated policemen who are interested in extending their knowledge of archaeology and anthropology. They try to do so with self-study or external educational programmes. There are varying levels of knowledge of archaeological skills within these groups, since they are not taught at the police schools. Therefore groups in Vienna seek to compensate the lack of professional archaeological teaching programmes with a few former archaeologists who are currently finishing their regular police-training programme.

Institutions connected to (forensic) archaeological and anthropology research

Five Austrian institutions are involved with (forensic) archaeological and anthropological research:

• The Federal Monuments Office (Bundesdenkmalamt (BDA)),⁷ which has dependencies in most Austrian states and monitors the National Monument Protection Act. The BDA decides about excavation permits for archaeological sites and runs an archaeological site cadastre including the former graveyards and cemeteries in Austria. The BDA recently developed guidelines for excavations⁸ where human remains have been found or are expected. These guidelines demand that an anthropologist or an anthropologically trained archaeologist accompany such excavations.
• The Austrian Black Cross (Österreichisches Schwarzes Kreuz (ÖSK))⁹ was founded in 1919 and represents the Austrian War Graves Commission (Kriegsgräberfürsorge), which takes care of the graves and memorials of WWI and WWII soldiers of all nations who died within the borders of Austria.
• The Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS)¹⁰ is an interdisciplinary research platform for Archaeological Science at the University of Vienna which consists of several laboratories. The unit for Geophysical Prospection, Geodesy and Photogrammetry is an institution recognised as outstanding in the development of new large-scale prospection possibilities.
• The Centre of Archaeometry and Applied Molecular Archaeology Salzburg (CAMAS)¹¹ was established in order to offer a joint regulated and directed procedure whenever osseous human remains are discovered during an archaeological or historical excavation, with a special focus on the synoptic evaluation of physical anthropology, ancient DNA data and radiological images in conjunction with the conventional archaeological record.
• The Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA)¹² is an institution at the University of Vienna which hosts an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility (particle accelerator) for...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Biographies of editors
• Biographies of contributors
• Foreword by Clyde Collins Snow
• Foreword by Jeremy Sarkin
• Foreword by Colin Hope
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Glossary of abbreviations
• Introduction
• PART 1: Europe
• PART 2: The Americas
• PART 3: Africa, Asia and Oceania
• PART 4: (Non-) Governmental Organisations
• PART 5: Concluding Remarks
• Index
• End User License Agreement