1. Science of Crime Scenes
Chapter 7.1
Science of Crime Scenes

2. An Archaeological Approach to CSR
Science of Crime Scenes

3. Science of Crime Scenes
Careful destruction
The goal of an archaeological excavation is to carefully collect artifacts and record all the available information about a prehistoric or historic site of human activity.
The goal of reconstructing a crime scene is to carefully collect evidence and record relevant information about a past crime.
Both of these processes involve “careful destruction”:
They are one-way approaches that deconstruct a contextual location for its later reconstruction
Science of Crime Scenes

4. Transforms: A baseball bat as a weapon
C-transforms, cultural formation processes for those instigated by humans
Criminal use
Fractures in the victim’s skull
Production
Lacquer on the surface of the bat
Shape of the bat
Normal use
Fingerprints on the bat’s handle (although this could be from criminal use as well)
N-transforms for those that occur in nature
Drying and decomposition of the blood on the bat
Insect activity, drawn by the blood on the bat
Science of Crime Scenes

5. Useful archaeological terms
datum, a fixed reference point for all three-dimensional measurements
At a crime scene, the datum should be something permanent, or nearly so, like the corner of a room, a tree, or a post.
If no datum easily suggests itself, an artificial one, such as a post, nail, or mark, can be made
artifact is a human-made or modified portable object
feature is a non-portable artifact
provenience is the origin and derivation of an item in three- dimensional space, in relation to a datum and other items
Science of Crime Scenes

6. USGS survey marker: A type of datum
Science of Crime Scenes

7. Science of Crime Scenes
Time and Space
Like other historical science, forensic science employs one of the basic laws of history, which was developed by geologists, that of superimposition
Contemporary activities take place horizontally in space
Changes in activities occur vertically through time
Broadly, the law of superimposition states that newer vertical layers lay on top of the older, lower ones
In a crime scene, a body laying on top of a weapon means the weapon was positioned before the body, that is, it is “older” in placement than the body
Science of Crime Scenes

8. Science of Crime Scenes
Sidling Hill, Maryland
Science of Crime Scenes