This axis concerns both disciplinary reflections and methodological developments themselves, as well as their transmission via various teaching devices. It has a double objective: on the one hand, to encourage the deployment of a methodological, epistemological and deontological reflection on the conditions in which research conducted on human remains is elaborated, and on the other hand, to elaborate a set of new methods, based on population adaptations and diachronic transpositions of methods established on current populations, with the aim of making the reading of VABs and/or the interpretations of the contexts of the study of "Death and the dead" more reliable and better.
Projets
Research on the estimation of the age of immature children is one of the strong identity markers of our team, and has given it international recognition for nearly 20 years. In a forensic context, the challenge is to make the decision of the Justice system more reliable in order to qualify a crime or a homicide (reaching the age of fetal viability, foeticide or neonaticide, justified choice of one method rather than another). In an archaeo-thanatological context, the challenge is to understand and interpret modes of burial or choices of burial sites according to age categories, and to be able to discuss the socio-cultural aspects of age-dependent funeral rites.
As a "forensic science", forensic anthropology must meet strict methodological constraints with regard to the stakes of the conclusions drawn. The reliability of the analytical processing chains of remains (skeletonized or not) which leads to the estimation of the biological profile presented in a court of law is part of it, and an interdisciplinary approach integrating the recent advances in the field of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is able to bring significant progress.
The Collège Interdisciplinaire de Balistique Lésionnelle " CIBLé " brings together scientists, physicians, and forensic experts from the police and gendarmerie in order to study body trauma related to ballistic impacts. Several members of our team are involved and collaborate on "historical" case studies, as well as on expert appraisals of current judicial cases. A photographic atlas and a database are being created, and annual workshops are organized during national and international scientific events (French Society of Legal Medicine days, FASE symposium). A synthesis book is being prepared for publication by 2027.
Of interest to the entire historical depth explored by our team, the characterization of bone trauma is a central issue in the study of an individual's skeletal remains.
The challenge of this project, initiated in 2021, is to characterize the respective contributions of medical imaging techniques (CT scan, MRI) and 3D surface acquisitions (laser or structured light scanner, photogrammetry) in the reading of VAB.
This research project, to be carried out over 4 years, led by E. Anstett and based on a collaboration with Prof. S. Garibian (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and the Forensic Division of the ICRC, is currently being prepared to be submitted for an ERC-Advanced grant. It proposes a multidisciplinary approach to the problems (technical, legal, ethical and cultural) generated by the handling of extremely fragmented and unidentifiable human remains, particularly in situations of disaster, war or mass crime.
The objective is to propose paleopathological studies of collections (or expert assessments of the potential of the health approach to populations of the past) for comparisons between several contexts or to inform funerary recruitment.
The principles and methods of archaeothanatology are now widely accepted for an optimized approach and understanding of funerary and mortuary contexts, both for past and present societies. Nevertheless, there is sometimes a lack of transmission and training concerning these principles, or even a real lack of knowledge, on the part of the actors of archaeology. This can lead to a poor approach in the field, and even to the non-recognition of structures and gestures, which then leads to an irremediable loss of primary data, equivalent to the pure and simple destruction of sites.