Crimes in the Past: Archaeological and Anthropological Evidence

This book discusses examples of crime scenes in the archaeological past, their detection and interpretation with the help of modern science; readers will find cases of historic and prehistoric ‘crimes scenes’ known from various contexts: (pre)historic (mass) graves, lethal violent acts related to warfare, ritual killings, or possible murder cases.

Crimes in the Past: Archaeological and Anthropological Evidence aims to discuss the possible examples of crimes in the archaeological past, their detection and interpretation with the help of modern scientific methods, and how interdisciplinary approaches can be conducted in further research concerning ‘crimes of the past.’ The idea to create this publication was born after organizing Session #169 Past Crimes during the 25th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA 2019) in Bern. In this book, readers will find cases of historic and prehistoric ‘crimes scenes’ known from various contexts, including the findings of (pre)historic (mass) graves and lethal violent acts related to warfare, ritual killings, or possible murder cases. In order to get to the bottom of the possible archaeological crime scenes, contemporary interdisciplinary approaches will be used, which allow us to extend the frames of classical archaeological study.