Saturday, April 18, 2015

The Weighty Role Of A Forensic Architect

By Stella Gay


When one is lucky enough to have a construction project unearth a site of archaeological interest, then all work on the original project must cease. A team of experts must be brought in to unearth and preserve any artifacts. Then the job of a forensic architect is to recreate what was occurring there at that site based upon clues at the scene.

These professionals generally carry an architectural degree, but they have specialized their talents in such a way that they can recreate a scene of violence in history. The majority of their work focuses on recent historical events. Many of the Nazi war crime museums and memorials will have just such a person on staff.

There is great truth to the notion that the victor gets to write history, but these officers of analysis are attempting to correct some historical inaccuracies. This is a point of great pride, as it is only an unbiased account of an event which shows the agony and courage on all sides of any conflict. It can be difficult when they find evidence that contradicts the accepted narrative, but it is these inaccuracies which dishonor our ancestors.

The information these professionals obtain can come from many different sources. Newspapers on microfilm, compared to a physical site, compared to aerial x-ray footage, compared to eye-witness accounts is their usual recipe. These men and women have created this field, and within it they are the stewards of history.

When a body is found law enforcement is generally called, but these officers frequently request the assistance of a team of architectural historians. If the body cannot be compared successfully against someone on the missing person roster, then it is always possible that the body is much older than anticipated. Some murders of the old world have even been solved, thus closing a door on an unexplained murder hundreds of years ago.

Who can possibly forget the bog people who were found in Europe, and sacrificed. It was clear that some of these bodies were given proper ritual death, and that the victim may have even been a voluntary participant in his or her own demise. Other bodies were obviously murdered and their bodies disposed of at this location in order to avoid detection.

There is always at least one person on such a team who is an artist most talented with the gift of sculpture. This artist has a vast education in the structure of the human face, including the relative space between bone and flesh. Our bodies have a particular equation, and such an artist can recreate the face of a person who lived thousands of years ago.

It is key for such professionals to analyze data very carefully, as the establishment of the proper chain of events is their goal. Once the scientists have their story straight, then this event or moment in history can be recreated. Only then can the scientist release their findings press-release style, as this final version may be what will become part of the story taught in schools.




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