Mass Graves: The Forensic Investigation of the Deaths, Destruction and Deletion of Communities and Their Heritage.

Abstract

Mass graves have for millennia been incorporated in the historic environment, often to conceal the dead. As a result of conflict, they form one part of the destruction of communities, and are intrinsically linked to wider destruction of historic and cultural heritage. They are symbolic of efforts to control the landscape by contesting groups. Repeated patterns in the properties of mass graves and related destruction can be identified. The investigation of crimes under international law have recognised these properties and the interlinked nature of destruction of communities. Archaeological methods provide an important resource for investigators to undertake a now established formal process of gathering criminal evidence and accounting for the missing.