Browsing by Author "Masters, Peter"

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    The application of low-altitude near-infrared aerial photography for detecting clandestine burials using a UAV and low-cost unmodified digital camera
    (Elsevier, 2018-06-26) Evers, Rykker; Masters, Peter
    Aerial photography and remote sensing has been carried out in the past by numerous different platforms, utilizing imaging from across the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum to gain information about the earth. These techniques have additionally been found effective when locating mass graves and single clandestine graves created by perpetrators when concealing homicide victims. Applications for performing aerial photography and remote sensing are costly and therefore usually overlooked by police investigators, resulting in employing more contemporary geophysical methods for locating burials. Recent advances in technology however have seen the development of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for aerial photography which can be executed at low altitude and controlled remotely from the surface. This development has introduced low-cost approaches in detecting surface features, commonly utilised in the archaeological field for its accuracy in detecting anomalies, particularly when using near-infrared (NIR) photography. NIR aerial images have been shown to expose cropmarks of historical value which are unnoticeable in conventional colour photography, deriving from the visual area of the EM spectrum. However, little attempt has been made to investigate the practice of NIR photography to detect clandestine graves using low-cost aerial platforms in the form of UAVs. This paper considers adopting a low-cost and non-invasive approach to detect clandestine graves through the implementation of a small UAV and an unmodified GoPro camera fixed with a near-infrared filter. The results presented here have recognised real-time suitability for using UAVs as an aerial photographic platform in the forensic archaeological field as well as noting the advantage of NIR photography as an ongoing technique for discriminating recent graves from their surroundings.
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    The contribution of natural burials to soil ecosystem services: review and emergent research questions
    (Elsevier, 2023-11-22) Pawlett, Mark; Girkin, Nicholas T.; Deeks, Lynda K.; Evans, Daniel L.; Sakrabani, Ruben; Masters, Peter; Garnett, Kenisha; Marquez-Grant, Nicholas
    The modern funeral industry faces many environmental risks and challenges, such as the use of sustainable materials for coffins, the release of potentially damaging materials and organisms to the soil and groundwater, and reduced space available for cemeteries. “Natural burial” proposes an alternative and more sustainable funeral practice, omitting the use of preservatives that inhibit body decomposition, thus proposing to reduce environmental degradation and benefit soil ecosystem services. This study conducted a literature review to identify proposed risks and benefits of “natural” compared to “traditional” burial practices, identifies knowledge gaps, and proposes further research questions. The approach was multidisciplinary, including literature from soil, environmental, forensic, and archaeological sciences, and the Humanities. Results identified that here are some clear environmental benefits to natural burial, such as habitat creation and aboveground biodiversity. However, there is a substantial deficit of research that compares the unseen risks and benefits of natural burial practice. Multiple potential risk factors include: (i) groundwater contaminated with biochemical products of decomposition, pathogens, and pharmaceutical products, (ii) atmospheric emissions, including greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O). There is also a deficit of information related to the release of cadaver decomposition products to soil ecological processes. More detailed scientific research is required to identify the risks and benefits of funeral options, thus develop fit for purpose regulations and legislation and to describe the cultural incentives for natural burial. This paper identifies key areas of research required to understand and mitigate the potential environmental and cultural implications of human burial practices.
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    Redefining the documentation of outdoor surface scatter scenes using geographic information systems
    (Wiley, 2025-02) Pottage, Katie; Masters, Peter; Márquez-Grant, Nicholas
    The field of forensic archaeology has been primarily associated with the search, location, and excavation of clandestine graves, and thus, other deposition types have been commonly neglected in research. Current literature typically addresses the use of traditional methods implemented for the excavation and recovery of human remains from clandestine graves but fails to provide the same for surface scatter scenes. This study aimed to explore the documentation of such scenes through the integration of traditional archaeological techniques, geophysical surveying techniques, and GIS. A mixed method study was created and utilized in three different simulated scatter scenes, allowing the qualitative and quantitative scope of GIS to be examined and assessed. The techniques were utilized successively and iterated until all simulated scenes had been documented. Within this study, terrain was the independent variable—this was nonrandomized and chosen to best suit sites where scatter scenes are most prevalent. Results demonstrated GIS to be an effective method in the documentation of contextual data at a forensic surface scatter scene, providing both qualitative and quantitative data. Such findings aid in understanding the admissibility of each technique in court and its impact on a case when presented as evidence. This research revealed that further exploration of surveying techniques in sites other than clandestine graves is necessary for forensic archaeology practice.
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    Search and location of body deposition sites: the role of winthropping and other innovative approaches
    (2019-02) Conway-Grim, Tanja; Healy, Matthew J. F.; Masters, Peter
    Homicide is regarded as one of the gravest of all crimes, and those cases where the body is initially missing are more difficult to solve, partly due to a potential loss of forensic evidence. This research investigated the potential role of winthropping (a counter-terrorism search technique developed by the British Army in Northern Ireland), tracking, wayfinding and lowland search and rescue techniques in the search for and location of rural body deposition sites. The focus was on ‘no body’ murders due to their high impact on society, and the people left behind having to deal with the ambiguous loss of their loved ones. Appropriate search training with the police, Lowland Rescue and military trackers was undertaken. Search professionals from within the police, military, lowland rescue and search organisations were interviewed. Specific distance data (known as track offset distance) of body deposition sites and locations where missing suicidal males were found, were compared to see whether their search parameters were similar. Training differences were noted especially relating to navigation and map reading. Most interviewees were familiar with winthropping, but few had applied its principles to the search and location of body deposition sites. ‘Fault lines’ surfaced as an (unexpected) topic, specifically: communication, financial constraints, statistics, rank and tasking. Homicide was seen as rare and complex, with accurate, intelligence-led tasking being a priority. The use of outside agencies (such as man-trackers and Lowland Rescue) seemed very much dependent upon the police search professional’s personal preference and experience, rather than a consistent national evidence-based approach.
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    Towards an integrated approach to recording military aircraft crash sites
    (Equinox, 2021-05-23) Masters, Peter; Osgood, Richard
    The forensic investigation of military aircraft crash sites has become in recent times part of mainstream traditional archaeology. Mostly amateur aircraft enthusiasts have undertaken the recovery of military aircraft crash sites without methodically recording the remains. The sites covered in this paper have been approached based on recording the in-situ remains methodically using traditional and scientific methods used in the field of archaeology from fieldwalking, metal detecting and geophysics. The strategy and methodology used in this investigation showed how effective and important it is to recover as much of the remains as possible to place it into a meaningful context in order to understand the reasoning for why these aircraft came to a devasting end by crashing into the ground at great speed. The excavations have involved Operation Nightingale—an MOD based recovery programme that specializes in archaeology. This paper will demonstrate the importance of using such an integrated approach to the recovery of military aircraft crash sites from the Second World War by referring to specific case studies.
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    UAV-assisted real-time evidence detection in outdoor crime scene investigations
    (Wiley, 2022-03-09) Georgiou, Argyrios; Masters, Peter; Johnson, Stephen; Feetham, Luke
    Nowadays, a plethora of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) designs that significantly vary in size, shape, operating flight altitude, and flight range have been developed to provide multidimensional capabilities across a wide range of military and civil applications. In the field of forensic and police applications, drones are becoming increasingly used instead of helicopters to assist field officers to search for vulnerable missing persons or to target criminals in crime hotspots, and also to provide high-quality data for the documentation and reconstruction of the forensic scene or to facilitate evidence detection. This paper aims to examine the contribution of UAVs in real-time evidence detection in outdoor crime scene investigations. It should be highlighted that the project innovates by providing a quantitative comparative analysis of UAV-based and traditional search methods through the simulation of a crime scene investigation for evidence detection. The first experimental phase tested the usefulness of UAVs as a forensic detection tool by posing the dilemma of humans or drones. The second phase examined the ability of the drone to reproduce the obtained performance results in different terrains, while the third phase tested the accuracy in detection by subjecting the drone-recorded videos to computer vision techniques. The experimental results indicate that drone deployment in evidence detection can provide increased accuracy and speed of detection over a range of terrain types. Additionally, it was found that real-time object detection based on computer vision techniques could be the key enabler of drone-based investigations if interoperability between drones and these techniques is achieved.