Sleuths join ancient dig
Submitted by PaulM on Thursday, 23 June 2005 Page Views: 2242
DiscoveriesCountry: England County: CheshireInternal Links:
Merseyside and Cheshire police have joined diggers at an archaeological site to learn how to identify burial plots and handle skeletons. Teams of crime scene investigators have helped retrieve scores of skeletons at the remains of a medieval chapel where a 5,000-year-old wooden ritual circle similar to Stonehenge has been discovered.
The unique partnership - the brainchild of Bernard Roberts, Head of Forensic Investigations at Cheshire Police - is designed to give the CSIs hands-on experience.
Techniques picked up during courses run for them specially at the dig at Poulton near Chester will help the police experts in locating and then preserving buried bodies in murder investigations.
They are being taught by site director Mike Emery and his colleagues how to:
Identify burial plots by reading the signs of previously disturbed ground
Use ground penetration radar to show them how far they can dig without disturbing a body
Follow rules when lifting a skeleton. There is a precise order in which the bones should be lifted
Preserve the skeleton properly, so it is not damaged for the post mortem.
Mr Roberts said: "The course gives the CSIs a learning experience and is of great practical use. Previously, if we found a body in an underground location, we would have to buy in archaeological expertise to help us maximise the evidence. Now our staff will have the practical knowledge themselves.
"In the past, we have sent people on courses but they were all classroom-based - at Poulton. This is the CSIs first opportunity other than a live murder case to work at an actual scene."
Senior CSI Lesley Mitchell, 38, of Merseyside Police, said after taking the course: "By digging up actual skeletons, we are getting excellent practical experience.
"Both we as crime scene investigators and the archaeologists are dealing in death, and we both are looking for the what, why and when of burials.
"Mike and his team have given us vital information regarding buried bodies, with tips on the value of soil science, how not to contaminate the evidence, and the use of botany and 'geophizz' to get to the truth."
CSI Christine Cooke, 26, also of Merseyside Police, said: "In a case where, for example, a builder has turned up buried bones, the course has helped us distinguish whether they are animal or human."
Mr Emery, 52, of Chester, who is the brother of actor Ralph Fiennes and who has been leading the excavations at Poulton for the last 10 years, said: "Both archaeologists and the crime scene investigators are searching for the
truth behind an event. Our techniques are remarkably similar to those employed by their own profession.
"The techniques we can show them, such as the ground penetration radar and the ways of distinguishing between animal and human bones, can save the police forces money when they conduct their murder investigations."
Skeletons dug up at the Poulton project are stored at Liverpool University, where pathological analysis is being undertaken.
More than 60 complete or partial skeletons were excavated from the medieval graveyard last year - consisting almost entirely of children.
Source: Daily Post 23 June 2005
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