Forensic Archaeology; The New Witness

Forensic archaeology defines the law and how it applies to archaeology, but it usually refers specifically to the modern study of a particular crime and how it is solved by law enforcement through archaeological means. Forensic Archaeologists are witnessing an extreme expansion within their field in relation to the technological advances that are now available to them; techniques that were previously exclusively used in anthropology are making their way to the forefront of the justice system. Unsolved crimes of decades that previously eluded law enforcement, are now being reexamined. "Unsolved crimes" are no longer hopeless mysteries, but crimes that simply whisper their evidence. Violent criminal cases containing the most minimal amount of evidence are being solved methodically through slight, even microscopic detail. Violent crimes over thirty years old are solved with no more than a mere paint chip, tiny hair shaft, or carpet fiber.
"In the blood, the life"; and now in the age of DNA, there is a new form of forensic study that can actually repeat a short strand of DNA, (in tiny, microscopic drops of blood/saliva/or semen- fresh or dry), called Short Tandem Repeat. The analysis is performed by extracting nuclear DNA from the forensic sample, amplifying specific polymorphic regions of the DNA; essentially repeating and comleteing the DNA code sample. The result creates a unique genetic profile of an individual excluding other genetic profiles. STR analysis has become the most prominent analysis method for determining a genetic profile through DNA evidence; and a rock solid silent witness with evidence, just waiting to be discovered.

Andrea Windsor

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