With contributions from 70 experienced practitioners from around the world, this second edition of the authoritative Handbook of Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology provides a solid foundation in both the practical and ethical components of forensic work. The book weaves together the discipline's historical development; current field methods for analyzing crime, natural disasters, and human atrocities; an array of laboratory techniques; key case studies involving legal, professional, and ethical issues; and ideas about the future of forensic work--all from a global perspective. This fully revised second edition expands the geographic representation of the first edition by including chapters from practitioners in South Africa and Colombia, and adds exciting new chapters on the International Commission on Missing Persons and on forensic work being done to identify victims of the Battle of Fromelles during World War I. The Handbook of Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology provides an updated perspective of the disciplines of forensic archaeology and anthropology.

About the Author
Soren Blau is the Senior Forensic Anthropologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. She is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University, a Founding Fellow Faculty of Science at The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, and a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship. Blau undertakes forensic anthropology casework, including Disaster Victim Identification, and she has participated in the recovery and analysis of human remains from archaeological and forensic contexts in numerous countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guam, Indonesia, Israel, the Solomon Islands, East Timor, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan. Blau has worked as a consultant for the International Criminal Court and non-government organizations, and she has conducted training courses for forensic practitioners and related stakeholders. Douglas Ubelaker is a curator and senior scientist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Since 1978, he has served as a consultant in forensic anthropology, reporting on more than 900 cases and testifying in numerous legal proceedings. He is a lecturer with the departments of anatomy and anthropology at The George Washington University, as well as an adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University. Ubelaker has published extensively in the general field of human skeletal biology with an emphasis on forensic applications and has served on the editorial boards of numerous leading scientific publications. Since 1987, he has been a Fellow in the Physical Anthropology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and he served as president of the Academy in 2011-2012. Ubelaker has received numerous honors from both American and international organizations.

Reviews

"... [T]his volume is indeed comprehensive. The Editors should be congratulated on an excellent book, which should be on the bookshelf of any serious practitioner and library. The Editors state that the 'methodologies summarized in this volume are state of the art but hardly the last word.' However, this book should remain highly relevant for many years to come. Highly recommended!""

- James Robertson, Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, review of the first edition

"This superb volume brings together contributions from practicing professionals in Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Guatemala, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, and the United States. ... For those individuals considering specializing in forensic anthropology, or applying their archaeological skills in the search, documentation, and recovery of human remains and evidence derived from non-archaeological contexts, this book inserts a large dose of reality into what it means to be an anthropologist first and a forensic anthropologist second."

- Leslie E. Eisenberg, Journal of Forensic Sciences, review of the first edition

Book Information
ISBN 9781629583853
Author Soren Blau
Format Paperback
Page Count 738
Imprint Left Coast Press Inc
Publisher Left Coast Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1620g