Human Remains Detection Dogs as a New Prospecting Method in Archaeology

Abstract

Detecting burial sites in archaeology often involves various prospecting methods such as field survey, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity, and remote sensing. This paper presents the results of utilizing human remains detection dogs in detecting prehistoric burials dated to the Iron Age in Europe. Human remains detection (HRD) dogs or cadaver dogs are commonly used in criminal cases. However, they are used less frequently for detecting historic burials. Our research was conducted at the burial site of the prehistoric hillfort of Drvisica (Croatia) located on the littoral slope of the Velebit mountains. A total of four HRD dogs were used in both a blinded and double-blinded search. Those locations where an HRD dog produced an indication were subjected to both visual inspection and archaeological excavation. This research has resulted in the discovery of five new prehistoric tombs as well as HRD dogs detecting previously excavated tombs. Therefore, in this paper, we demonstrate that HRD dogs are a valuable tool for locating burials like other non-destructive archaeological search methods.