Primary Burial
Definition
A burial in which remains were placed at the recovery location at or shortly after the time of death, and decomposed in situ. Characterised by anatomical articulation of skeletal elements and spatial relationships consistent with a single depositional event.
Related terms
- 5 Cm Spit Excavation
- The standard forensic burial excavation unit: fill is removed in horizontal layers of 5 centimetres or less, each spit separately bagged and...
- Cadaver Dog
- A dog trained to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by human decomposition. Can alert to buried remains at depths of several...
- Chain of Custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR)
- A geophysical method that transmits electromagnetic pulses into soil and records reflections from subsurface discontinuities. In forensic burial detection, it identifies the...
- Phosphate Survey
- A geochemical search method that measures soil phosphate concentration at regular sample points. Decomposing organic matter, including human remains, raises local phosphate...
- Photogrammetry
- A technique that uses overlapping photographs to reconstruct three-dimensional geometry from two-dimensional images. In forensic engineering, photogrammetry and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) software allow...
- Secondary Deposition
- A burial or scatter in which remains were moved from the original death location after some decomposition, then deposited at the recovery...
- Sieve Mesh Recovery
- The recovery of small bones, fragments, and associated material by passing grave fill through wire mesh of 6 mm and 2 mm...
- Total-Station Survey
- A surveying instrument combining a theodolite and electronic distance measurement, used in forensic archaeology to record three-dimensional coordinates of bone elements and...
Explained in
- Forensic Archaeological Scene RecoveryA burial in which remains were placed at the recovery location at or shortly after the time of death, and decomposed in situ. Characterised by anatomical artic...