Forensic archaeology as mortuary anthropology

Abstract

This paper argues that forensic anthropology is more than just physical anthropology, but should incorporate several subdisciplinary perspectives into a framework of mortuary anthropology. The advantage of this holistic approach is to provide context for the primary roles of physical anthropologists; identification of victims, and assessing manner of death. Mortuary anthropology provides information on processes of disposal and site formation, including the regularity, sequencing, and timing of events, which is complementary to the traditional roles of physical anthropologists. A call is made for more widespread application of this perspective.forensics archaeology theory anthropology