Mass Graves Research Articles

Geophysical Investigations of United States Revolutionary War Era (1777–1778) Mass Burial Sites in Pennsylvania, USA

The United States Revolutionary War (1775–1783) resulted in numerous mass burials in the eastern United States, with deaths occurring not just directly related to the battles fought, but also from disease, starvation, and exposure. Current information relating to these mass burials is often gathered from myths and rumors, leaving the truth of the historical aspects of that time period ambiguous. Geophysical techniques are increasingly utilized in archaeologic and forensic studies to locate unmarked burials. GPR, magnetics, and electrical resistivity have been used to successfully identify burial locations around the world in a non-invasive manner. This paper aims to illustrate how different burials of the US Revolutionary War period can be detected and characterized with geophysics, providing important knowledge of a better historical understanding of that time period, as well as optimizing equipment instrumentation and processing procedures for such targeted investigations. Three case studies of Revolutionary War Era mass burial sites in Pennsylvania, USA are described here: the Paoli Battlefield Memorial, the Old Charlestown Cemetery, and Saint Peter's Church in the Great Valley. These sites are within 9 km of each other and have historic records that suggest mass burials during this period. Results show GPR to provide the most useful data overall, with supporting information gathered from the supplemental geophysical techniques of magnetometry and resistivity. 2D profiles tend to provide a more valuable image of the subsurface than 3D slices. Larger burials leave a greater footprint and have a higher chance of causing a geophysical disturbance that can be measured more than 200 years after the burial. Soil moisture content and vegetation type can impact quality of results. Study implications demonstrate the challenges and potential usefulness of geophysical techniques to successfully locate and characterize mass burials of this time period.

THE EXTERMINATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN CITY OF YAROSLAVL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 13TH CENTURY: THE LONG JOURNEY TO EXACT DATING

ABSTRACTThis paper raises methodological issues of radiocarbon (14C) dating of historical events based on data obtained during the excavations of the Russian medieval city of Yaroslavl. The city is of special interest to our study because of the precise time of its destruction by troops of Batu Khan mentioned in chronicles—the winter of 1238. To date in Yaroslavl, researchers have discovered 9 mass burials of citizens and domestic animals buried sometime after the massacre by the Mongols. Mass burials of people alongside animals in a common grave and outside of the cemetery, in violation of Christian traditions, are not typical of medieval Russia and are a sign of a military catastrophe. To test this hypothesis, we dated a total of 65 samples representing all 9 mass burials. A Bayesian chronological model of the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates narrowed the interval to the range of 1197–1280 cal AD, with the mean age of 1239 AD, consistent with the hypothesis that the studied mass burials of citizens and livestock are related to the capture of the city by the army of Batu Khan.

‘Face to face with horror’

This article focuses on the judicial consideration of the scientific analysis of the Tomašica mass grave, in the Prijedor municipality of Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Often referred to as the largest mass grave in Europe since the Second World War, this grave was fully discovered in September 2013 and the scientific evidence gathered was included in the prosecution of Ratko Mladić before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Based on the exhaustive analysis of all the publicly available trial transcripts, this article presents how the Tomašica evidence proved symptomatic of the way in which forensic sciences and international criminal justice intertwine and of the impact of the former over the latter on the admissibility of evidence, the conduct of proceedings and the qualification of the crimes perpetrated.

Mass grave exhumations as patriotic retreat

Between 2012 and 2017, at the Ł-section of Warsaw’s Powązki Military Cemetery, or ‘Łączka’, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance exhumed a mass grave containing the remains of post-war anti-communist resistance fighters. Being referred to as the ‘cursed soldiers’, these fighters have become key figures in post-2015 Polish memory politics. In this article we focus on the role of the volunteers at these exhumations in the production of the ‘cursed soldiers’ memory. Following the idea of community archaeology as a civil society-building practice, the observed processes of sacralisation and militarisation show how the exhumations create a community of memory that promotes the core values of the currently governing national-conservative PiS party. We found that tropes related to forensic research and typically identified with cosmopolitan memory paradigms are used within a generally nationalist and antagonistic memory framework.

Investigation of WWII/postwar mass burials in Croatia—The implementation of the Croatian model of searching for the imprisoned and missing persons

The search for victims of World War Two (WWII) and the immediate aftermath period (postwar) in Croatia started together with the search for Homeland War victims in 1991. It continued through years, most often sporadically and in a non-homogenous way. It was just with the adoption of the Law on Research, Arrangement and Maintenance of Military Cemeteries, Cemeteries of Victims of WWII and Postwar Period in 2013 that the search became more structured and gained a formal governmental body responsible for the organization and supervision of the activities related to it. It was then that the well-established model of searching for Homeland War victims, based on many years of field work and research, started to be implemented in the search and analysis of WWII/postwar victims. The model represents a continuously growing and developing project which encompasses a wide variety of steps and procedures, from the investigation of alleged burial locations to the analysis and reburial of recovered mortal remains. From its implementation in 2016, it allowed the successful investigation of 1300 alleged burial locations, 484 field surveys, 42 exhumations and the recovery of remains of more than 1600 individuals. Besides, care for military cemeteries, marking of mass burial sites and arranging of international treaties are conducted in order to guarantee proper handling, relocation and repatriation of all those that perished during WWII and the postwar period.

Detecting grave sites from surface anomalies: A longitudinal study in an Australian woodland.

Forensic investigations of single and mass graves often use surface anomalies, including changes to soil and vegetation conditions, to identify potential grave locations. Though numerous resources describe surface anomalies in grave detection, few studies formally investigate the rate at which the surface anomalies return to a natural state; hence, the period the grave is detectable to observers. Understanding these processes can provide guidance as to when ground searches will be an effective strategy for locating graves. We studied three experimental graves and control plots in woodland at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (Sydney, Australia) to monitor the rate at which surface anomalies change following disturbance. After three years, vegetation cover on all grave sites and control plots had steadily increased but remained substantially less than undisturbed surroundings. Soil anomalies (depressions and cracking) were more pronounced at larger grave sites versus the smaller grave and controls, with leaf litterfall rendering smaller graves difficult to detect beyond 20months. Similar results were observed in two concurrent burial studies, except where accelerated revegetation appeared to be influenced by mummified remains. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall may prolong the detection window for grave sites by hindering vegetation establishment. Observation of grave-indicator vegetation, which exhibited abnormally strong growth 10months after commencement, suggests that different surface anomalies may have different detection windows. Our findings are environment-specific, but the concepts are applicable globally.

High DNA yield from metatarsal and metacarpal bones from Slovenian Second World War skeletal remains

DNA yield varies by anatomical region, and the selection of bone types that yield maximum recovery of DNA is important to maximize the success of human identification of skeletal remains. The goal of our study was to explore inter- and intra-individual variation in DNA content by measuring nuclear DNA quantity and quality and autosomal STR typing success to determine the most promising skeletal elements for bone sampling. To exclude the influence of taphonomic issues as much as possible, three complete male skeletons from a single Second World War mass grave were examined and all representative skeletal element types of the human body were analyzed. Forty-eight different types of bones from the head, torso, arm, leg, hand, and foot were sampled from each skeleton, 144 bones altogether. The samples were cleaned, and half a gram of bone powder was decalcified using a full demineralization extraction method. The DNA was purified in a Biorobot EZ1 (Qiagen). DNA content and rates of DNA degradation were determined with the PowerQuant (Promega), and the Investigator ESSplex SE QS (Qiagen) was used for STR typing. The highest-yielding bones mostly produced the most complete STR profiles. Among the skeletal elements containing on average the most DNA and producing the most complete profiles in all three skeletons examined were metacarpals, metatarsals, and the petrous portion of the temporal bone. Metatarsals and metacarpals can easily be sampled without using a saw, thus reducing potential DNA contamination. Skeletons from the Second World War can be used as a model for poorly preserved skeletal remains, and the results of the investigation can be applied for genetic identification of highly degraded skeletal remains in routine forensic casework. Although the research was limited to only three skeletons found in a unique mass grave, the data obtained could contribute to sampling strategies for identifying old skeletal remains. More Second World War skeletons will be analyzed in the future to investigate inter-bone variation in the preservation of DNA.

Strategy for STR typing of bones from the Second World War combining CE and NGS technology: A pilot study

The genetic identification of skeletal remains found in Second World War mass graves is complicated because of the poor quality of the samples. The aim of this study was to set up a workflow for STR typing of such samples combining PCR/CE and PCR/NGS technologies. To this end, 57 DNA samples from an equal number of 75-year-old femurs were studied. After a first round of PCR typing using GlobalFiler CE, 42 samples yielded a full profile and were therefore submitted to our standard workflow. The 15 samples that yielded no or a limited number (2–17/21) of autosomal STR markers as well four bone control samples that provided a full profile with the conventional PCR/CE test were typed in duplicate by the GlobalFiler NGS kit. Despite the degradation of the samples, which resulted in lower coverage and a lower % of on-target reads, reliable sequencing data were obtained from 16/19 samples. The use of a threshold of 30× for the locus call led to a consensus profile (cp) of 20–31/31 STR autosomal loci in 10 samples and to a cp of 8–10/31 loci in two samples, whereas the four control samples yielded a cp of 26–31/31 loci. Finally, the data of the NGS typing were combined with those of the CE typing. This last task allowed us to recover (on average) three alleles per sample and to increase the number of the heterozygous patterns in 37 cases. In total, the combined approach proposed here made possible the genetic typing of 65–100% of the autosomal STR markers in 10/15 (66.6 %) skeletal remains that yielded no or very poor results with the conventional PCR/CE approach. However, because several artefacts (such as allelic drop-out and allelic drop-in) were scored, the risk of mistyping cannot be neglected.

Atopic objects: The afterlives of gold teeth stolen from Holocaust dead

Transfers of property are an integral part of armed conflicts and instances of mass political violence. Not just the state and the military, but also civilians confiscate, dispossess, loot and redistribute wealth across ethnic, national, class or religious lines, in the process re-enacting and sustaining the boundaries of othering and belonging that stand behind the conflict. In this way, economic violence takes on an essentially political dimension. Although, to date, rarely conceptualized as such, even grave robbery perpetrated at the burial sites of a defeated enemy or a member of othered minority constitutes a practice of alterity and dehumanization. And while, in the aftermath of violence, this very fact has the ability to invest things taken from mass graves with a particularly disturbing potential, this article reflects on the practices and affective dynamics surrounding objects of a distinctively unsettling status: golden teeth and dental bridges in their ambivalent condition between material objects (valuables) and bodily remains of the dead. They are considered in this article through the conceptual lens of ‘atopic objects’, a notion designed to bring to the fore both the out-of-place quality and the at once as-well-as/neither-nor character of those things, suspended on the threshold between human remains and material objects, private possessions and body parts of othered and violently dispossessed people. In this article, the author asks how this uneasy ontological status is experienced, acted upon and negotiated by the new (and rarely rightful) ‘owners’ and offers an insight into the practical, affective, political and also legal framings through which ‘atopic objects’ are being constructed and reconstructed either as things or as body parts and, at the cost of their unsettling quality, become embedded in the postwar orders, both in the intimate order of the body and in the political–economic order of the state.

Unrecovered objects: Narratives of dispossession, slow violence and survival in the investigation of mass graves from the Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) was triggered by a military uprising against the democratically elected Popular Front government. Away from the battlefield, this war was characterized by the politically-motivated murder of thousands of civilians, many of whom were buried in clandestine graves throughout Spain. Following Franco’s victory and subsequent dictatorship, there were strong prohibitions on commemorating the Republican dead. A radical rupture in Spain’s memory politics occurred from 2000 onwards with the founding of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory and other similar pressure groups that have organized the exhumation and reburial of the Republican dead. This article is based on fieldwork conducted in communities in Castile and León, and Extremadura as they underwent mass grave investigations. It examines the experience of theft and dispossession that occurred as part of the Francoist repression of Republicans. Accounts of these episodes focus on stolen and looted objects robbed from the dead during the killings, from the graves’ post-mortem, or from surviving relatives as part of the systematic dispossession of Republican households that occurred during the war and immediate post-war period. These narratives surface with frequency during the investigation and exhumation of mass graves. Despite the fact that many are lost forever, these stolen possessions can function as powerful mnemonic objects with a strong affective and imaginative hold. The narratives of dispossession explore themes of survival, the experiences of women and children, and the impact of slow violence. By invoking theft and stolen objects, these stories highlight forms of trauma and forms of memory that may not be represented fully by the dominant investigative paradigm of the mass grave exhumation with its inherent focus on death, cataclysmic violence and the tangible, physical traces of the past.

Cult Buildings on the Middle-Don Settlements of the Scythian Era

Introduction. As a result of many years of excavations on settlements of the Skiphian era in the basin of the Middle Don the area of about 50 thousand square meters has been opened. However, buildings of the cult purpose are still not known. Methods and materials. The search for such structures is difficult due to the absence of pronounced sacral markers. However, according to publications and archival sources, structures unusual in configuration, stratigraphy and a set of accompanying materials have been selected. It was possible to identify four buildings of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC, characterized by unusual shape and layout, concentration of bonfires, ceramic and osteological materials, presence of anthropological residues. Analysis. Two buildings were located on a hillfort in the city of Semiluki, which is known for mass burials of its inhabitants. One area of about 9 square meters contained the burial of a woman and two children. In its three-part filling three hearths and sacrificial offerings, including dog bones, a female skull, fragments of ceramics, were preserved. Another 33 square meter building contained skulls and other remains of at least 13 people mixed with animal bones. Of the two buildings on the 1st hillfort near the village of Voloshino, one area of about 100 square meters had three hearths, another seven were located around. There were found a large amount of debris of stony vessels and antique amphorae in the filling and in the layer next to this structure. Another building with an area of about 18 square meters had a hearth and a bonfire. Its filling was saturated with fragments of ceramics and animal bones. Results. The buildings in question are not similar to dwellings or household structures. They are distinguished by the unique configuration of pits and internal space, uneven and dug by pits bottom. The bonfires present in the premises were not remnants of heating devices. They, like the accompanying finds, were related to the cult activities of the local population.

Forensic investigation of two Christian and Muslim mass graves skeletal remains in Sorya, Duhok governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan

Background and objective: This study aimed to investigate two mass graves located in Sorya village, Duhok governorate-Iraqi Kurdistan region. Methods: The investigation included excavation of the graves and identification of the victims. The field study was started after taking testimonies and witnesses for locating the site of graves. Two sites were described (Site 001 and site 002), which were excavated according to the scientific standard procedures. Sex determination, age, and stature estimation were performed on the remained skeletons in the medico-legal institute-Erbil laboratory. Results: Site 001 included 14 bodies, two of them were males and five were females, whereas the others were not identified because of degradations happens to the bones. Site 002 included 25 bodies, which were Christians according to witnesses and supported by evidence. Four victims appeared to be males, 14 were females, and 7 could not be identified. The results of age estimation reported that the number of young bodies in site 001 was five bodies, which represent 35.7% of them all, while 13 out of 25 were young bodies in site 002, which produced 52% of all victims. All the remained bones were recorded in detail for more documentation. Conclusion: This finding described the exhumation and anthropological evaluation of two mass graves in Sorya– Duhok governorate Iraqi Kurdistan region. The majority of the victims were females and contain Christian and Muslims people.

From Dignified Burial to ‘Terrorist Mausoleum’: Exhumations, Moral Panic and Mourning Policies in Peru

In this article, we examine mourning policies with respect to exhumations of mass graves from the Peruvian armed conflict. By reflecting on a case in which the exhumed dead, and their relatives, do not conform to the model of legitimate victims, we explore the limits of reparation policies and their effect on reconciliation. We investigate how the ‘terrorist mausoleum’ led to a significant episode of ‘moral panic’. We then analyse the normative perspective on mourning, as implemented in the public sphere, and how mourning, citizenship and nation are related when burying unwelcome dead associated with the figure of the ‘terrorist’.

The forensic value of smile photograph and medical radiograph analysis in identifying human skeletonized remains: a case report

BackgroundIdentifying human remains which are skeletonized, carbonized, disfigured, or fragmentized is a common task for forensic anthropologists and odontologists.Case presentationA case of unknown skeletonized remains is reported in this investigation, which was found in a mass grave in Damascus Countryside governorate, Syria, in 2017. The post-mortem (PM) examination of bones and teeth was completed in al-Muwasat University Hospital in Damascus. Skull and pelvic bones showed Caucasoid male traits: the fourth rib and teeth examination estimated the age to be between 30 and 40 years, and the long bone estimated the stature in centimeters to be between 172 and 179. Intact dentition with tiny fracture in the incisal edge of the upper right central incisor—along with pathological fracture of right patella—was noted. Matching with ante-mortem (AM) smile photograph and radiograph of the right knee led to positive identification.ConclusionsThe present study highlights the importance of maintaining and storage of medical radiographs or any other records that show the teeth or bones of the person.

Conflict on the Northern Front: Archaeological Perspectives on the Spanish Civil War at Monte Bernorio, Palencia, Spain

The archaeology of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) has experienced an important development over the last two decades. Several field projects have studied aspects such as mass graves, forced labor camps, and battlefields. In this paper, we present a case study from the so-called “Northern Front” (Frente Norte). The impressive mountain of Monte Bernorio, situated at the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains, controls one of the main communication routes between the central Spanish plateau (Meseta) and the Cantabrian Sea. Due to this strategic position, the site has played an important military role during two episodes of war separated by nearly 2,000 years: the Roman conquest of northern Iberia under Emperor Augustus in the 20s BCE, and the Spanish Civil War in the years 1936-37. The ongoing archaeological excavations and surveys are uncovering abundant remains of trenches, battering positions, barracks, and munitions belonging to the Civil War period, when Bernorio was a highly disputed position in the confrontation between “Republicans” and “Nationalists.” Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this paper combines archaeological evidence, oral history, and written documents that shed light on one of the main episodes of Franco’s conquest of northern Spain.

4월혁명기 피학살자 기념사업과 그 의미

The study explores how the memorial activities for the victims of the massacre in South Korea were launched after the April Revolution (1960) and what it has historically meant. For this purpose, newspapers, private materials by the Bereaved Family Associations (1960-1961), official documents by the National Assembly and the Government, investigative reports by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Korea (2005-2010), etc. were analyzed and this paper was composed of 3 chapters - before the April Revolution, during the April Revolution and after the May 16 coup (1961). After the April Revolution, the Bereaved Family Association was organized. They held a joint memorial service for the victims and built a mass grave. Such memorial activities were not only the funeral for the family but also the stage for disclosing illegality and brutality of the massacre. It menas that these movements broke the taboo of remaining silent on the massacres and challenged the national memory of the Korean War, which had been defined as the struggle against communism.

The Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was one of the most devastating conflicts of the twentieth century, yet little is known about its long-term legacy. We show that the war had a long-lasting effect on social capital, voting behavior and collective memory. To this end we use geo-located data on historical mass graves, disaggregated modern-day survey data on trust, combined with modern electoral results. For econometric identification, we exploit deviations from the initial military plans of attack, using the historical (1931) highway network. We also employ a geographical Regression Discontinuity Design along the Aragon Front. Our results show a significant, negative and sizable relationship between political violence and generalized trust. We further decompose the trust results, finding negative effects of conflict on trust in institutions associated with the Civil War, but no effects when looking at trust on Post 1975 democratic institutions. We also find long-lasting results on voting during the Democratic Period (1977-2016), corresponding to the sided political repression implemented in the Aragon region. In terms of mechanisms — using a specialized survey on the Civil War, street names data and Francoist newsreels about the war — we find lower levels of political engagement and differential patterns of collective memory about this traumatic historical event.

Could a “body fragmentation index” be useful in reconstructing events prior to burial: Case studies of selected primary and secondary mass graves from eastern Bosnia

This study analyses variable levels of body fragmentation among secondary mass grave sites with similar formation process history. The study is based on data from 10 commingled secondary mass grave sites and two primary sites related to the war in Bosnia in 1995. The aim was to investigate differences in level of body fragmentation between mass graves of similar origin and taphonomy. In order to quantify the degree of fragmentation (and level of commingling) within a grave, we introduced a fragmentation index (FI). FI represents the ratio between the number of complete bodies and number of body parts from the same context. Results show high discrepancies in body fragmentations between different sites. FI for secondary sites of similar formation history varied from 0.01 to 0.59 (max=1), while two primary sites have values 0.92 and 0.90 respectively. Variable levels of fragmentation among similar secondary sites suggest a possibility of different peri mortem circumstances of buried, so we tested whether the "body fragmentation index" could assist in elucidating the manner of death. Unusually high levels of body fragmentation (FI value below 0.1) in some secondary sites may indicate that body disarticulation was most likely caused peri-mortem by explosives, land mines, mortars or tank fire, all suggesting a combat situation.

The handling of bodies at the Drancy camp (1941–44)

This article seeks to show that the bodies of Jewish people who died in the Drancy internment camp between 1941 and 1944 were handled on French soil in a doubly normalised manner: first by the police and judicial system, and then in relation to funeral arrangements. My findings thus contradict two preconceived ideas that have become firmly established in collective memory: first, the belief that the number who died in the Drancy camp is difficult to establish; and second, the belief that the remains of internees who died in the camp were subjected to rapid and anonymous burial in a large mass grave in Drancy municipal cemetery.

Jasenovac.

Jasenovac was a camp run by the Ustaše Supervisory Service (UNS) of the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. It was located approximately 100 km south-east of Zagreb on the banks of the Sava River. Although the purpose of, and number of deaths in, the camp have been debated, it appears that a significant number of Serbs, Roma and Jews died and/or were executed at this site between 1941 and 1945. The site demonstrates that not all detention camps at this time were controlled by the German government and that cultural/religious groups other than the Jews were detainees. Balkan mass graves may therefore derive from different conflicts at different times, and so establishing accurate conclusions from excavations often requires a verifiable and plausible context and an understanding of burial processes.