Archaeology and Criminology

Until I read this article, I had never considered what an Archaeologists role would be in the criminology sphere. This entry may not deal specifically with ethics, but it does raise some very valuable questions and shed some light on the different roles of archaeologists throughout the world.

I suppose that we all assume that archaeologists are academics who lecture, go on digs and publish their findings to the world. However, in this particular case, archaeologists can help criminologists uncover the truth.

The story goes: A real estate agent in Lousiana uncovers about 100 bones in the basement of a house. Officials believe that they are from the 19th century. Moreover, officials say that they may even be Native American bones, which they then will fall under NAGPRA.

"Before it can be determined if the bones are native, they will be sent for analysis. Moreover, this analysis will determine if a crime has occured.
If the remains are American Indian, then the “appropriate” tribes will be consulted, he said. If the bones turn out to belong to another ethnic group, different groups may be notified."

We have spoken about NAGRA before, but not in terms of how it would be implemented in terms of crime. Moreover, it seems that NAGPRA would not be in effect if a crime had occured. So therefore, crime takes precedence over NAGPRA, no matter how old the remains are.

"If there is no crime, and the bones are more than 50 years old, they then fall under the responsibility of the state’s Division of Archaeology."

The site is an archaeological site, no doubt. Officials found arrowheads during investigation. Therefore, I wonder how the archaeologists will work with the criminalists and vice versa if it is true that a crime had taken place. Moreover, I wonder how the rules of NAGRA would apply.

After reading the article and looking more in depth into this situation, I think the remains preceded the house, therefore they are probably not the result of a crime but rather proper burial. Now, my question is: can native tribes, using NAGPRA, make any claims to the home? What will become of the home? Will there be a full excavation? Or will the bones be left as is?