Département des sciences de l'environnement, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.
Centre for Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, Australia.
J Forensic Sci. 2021 Mar;66(2):479-490. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.14626. Epub 2020 Nov 17.
Forensic investigations of single and mass graves often use surface anomalies, including changes to soil and vegetation conditions, to identify potential grave locations. Though numerous resources describe surface anomalies in grave detection, few studies formally investigate the rate at which the surface anomalies return to a natural state; hence, the period the grave is detectable to observers. Understanding these processes can provide guidance as to when ground searches will be an effective strategy for locating graves. We studied three experimental graves and control plots in woodland at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (Sydney, Australia) to monitor the rate at which surface anomalies change following disturbance. After three years, vegetation cover on all grave sites and control plots had steadily increased but remained substantially less than undisturbed surroundings. Soil anomalies (depressions and cracking) were more pronounced at larger grave sites versus the smaller grave and controls, with leaf litterfall rendering smaller graves difficult to detect beyond 20 months. Similar results were observed in two concurrent burial studies, except where accelerated revegetation appeared to be influenced by mummified remains. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall may prolong the detection window for grave sites by hindering vegetation establishment. Observation of grave-indicator vegetation, which exhibited abnormally strong growth 10 months after commencement, suggests that different surface anomalies may have different detection windows. Our findings are environment-specific, but the concepts are applicable globally.
对单个和集体坟墓的法医调查通常利用地表异常，包括土壤和植被条件的变化，来确定潜在的坟墓位置。尽管有许多资源描述了在坟墓探测中的地表异常，但很少有研究正式调查地表异常恢复自然状态的速度；因此，坟墓对观察者的可探测时间。了解这些过程可以为何时进行地面搜索以找到坟墓提供指导。我们在澳大利亚丧葬实验研究设施（澳大利亚悉尼）的林地中研究了三个实验性坟墓和对照点，以监测干扰后地表异常变化的速度。三年后，所有坟墓地点和对照点的植被覆盖都在稳步增加，但仍明显低于未受干扰的环境。与较小的坟墓和对照点相比，较大的坟墓处的土壤异常（凹陷和裂缝）更为明显，落叶使较小的坟墓在 20 个月后难以被发现。在两项同时进行的埋葬研究中观察到了类似的结果，除非加速植被恢复似乎受到木乃伊化遗骸的影响。热浪和强降雨等极端天气事件可能会通过阻碍植被的建立而延长坟墓的可探测时间。在开始后 10 个月观察到表明异常生长的坟墓指示性植被，表明不同的地表异常可能具有不同的可探测窗口。我们的发现是特定于环境的，但这些概念在全球范围内都适用。
