What Is a Forensic Archaeologist?
Forensic archaeologists recover and interpret human remains and material evidence from burial grounds for law enforcement and other legal agencies. They are called as scientific witnesses to courts of law, and they also investigate crimes against humanity.
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Training and Qualifications
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Forensic archaeologists have a master's or doctorate in anthropology. Post-degree training includes experience in the laboratory working with human remains as well as training in archaeological recovery methods or a related subfield in archaeology or anthropology.
Specializations
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Forensic archaeologists are experts in human bones and disease. Forensic archaeologists often are specialists in one or more subfields, such as medical anthropology, botany, soil science or paleoanthropology (the study of ancient human remains). Forensic archaeologists also can be skilled at facial reconstruction.
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Employment
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Forensic archaeologists are employed by universities, government agencies, cultural resource management firms and as private scientific consultants for homicide detectives.
Day in the Life
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The forensic investigation of Custer's Last Stand rewrote history books. Forensic archaeologists discover hidden grave sites, interpret human remains from crime scenes, recover remains from mass graves and take samples for other scientists to analyze in the lab. Forensic research has disproved many modern assumptions about ancient life and corrected hundreds of inaccurate historical records.
Salary
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The average salary for forensic scientists is $50,000 a year, although federal government scientists can command a higher salary.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Umberto Salvagnin Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of D'Arcy Norman Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Jim Bowen
