In Central Europe, human remains from the Magdalenian are a rare phenomenon. In Central and Western Europe, these remains are usually fragmented and often manipulated. The discovery of 50 human bone fragments from Maszycka Cave in the 19th and mid-20th century is an important source for studying the treatment of bodies in the Late Upper Palaeolithic. Skull fragments are dominating and the re-investigation of the material proves the presence of some cut marks. The re-dating of the remains and the bone artefacts to c. 16,200 cal BC together with the specific treatment of the human remains confirms the typological arguments for an early re-colonisation of Central Europe from the West after the Last Glacial Maximum.

After attending this presentation, attendees will better understand current cadaver dog training practices in the United
Kingdom, how trained cadaver dogs react to individual odors associated with decomposition, and how results indicated varying
quality and reliability of such dogs.
This presentation will impact the forensic science community by providing results from a controlled experiment in an
area with no known previous research. This presentation will add to current research, linking the Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOCs) detected from the decomposition process to the responses from trained cadaver dogs.
It is currently not known which chemicals elicit a trained response (indication/alert) from a Victim Recovery (VR) dog;
however, numerous studies have identified a wide array of chemicals associated with the decomposition process.1-3 From these, a
number have been identified and characterized by multiple studies using differing methodologies. All these studies broadly confirm
that different chemicals are present at specific times/states of decomposition while other chemicals are detected throughout the
decomposition process.4,5
Results from recent questionnaires initiated by this research and anecdotal evidence from a number of United Kingdom
VR dog handlers, indicate that VR dogs will often find human remains in states of decomposition that differ from those with which
they have been trained (personal observation). For example, despite VR dogs in the United Kingdom being mostly trained on pork
meat in various states of decomposition, they are still capable of successfully locating human remains operationally. This suggests
that the chemicals they are indicating on are likely present in both species, or dogs cannot differentiate between pig and human
remains and the chemicals they are indicating on are present throughout the decomposition process.
Based on this and a review of the literature, a number of chemicals were identified as being “core” chemicals of
decomposition, and possibly those that VR dogs are detecting and that are causing them to give a trained response.6,7
It is not currently known if VR dogs indicate on individual, a few, or the whole spectrum of chemicals that give rise to the
scent of decomposition.1
Therefore, to investigate this, an experiment was designed using a number of individual “core” chemicals
presented to the dogs in a scent lineup.
Experiments were designed to be comparable to early research that was conducted to determine the chemicals that elicit a
response from explosives detection dogs.8
This was due to ease of set-up and the similarity in the research goals (i.e., determining
if individual compounds cause a dog to indicate). It was decided this should be accomplished by presenting a number of individual
chemicals detected and identified from the decomposition process in separate vials to a sample of trained VR dogs.
Test chemicals included: ethylbenzene, p-xylene, o-xylene, styrene, nonanal, decanal, carbon disulphide, undecane,
dimethyl disulphide, toluene, hexane, trimethylamine, butyric acid, cadaverine, and putrescine. Positive controls (United Kingdom
cadaver dog training materials: human bone, pork tissue) and negative controls (chemicals not associated with pig or human
decomposition: geranyl acetone, clove oil) were also included in the lineup in addition to blanks.
This research concluded no single chemical achieved the same high response associated with the positive controls within
the lineup. Further investigation is required.
Reference(s):
1. Hoffmann E.M., Curran A.M., Dulgerian N., Stockham R.A., Eckenrode B.A. Characterization of the volatile organic
compounds present in the headspace of decomposing human remains. Forensic Sci Int 2009: 186 (1-3): 6-13.
2. Dekeirsschieter J. Stefanuto P.H., Brasseur C., Haubruge E., Focant J.F. (2012). Enhanced characterization of the smell
of death by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS).
PLoS ONE. 2012: 7 (6):e39005
3. Vass A.A. Odor mortis. Forensic Sci Int 2012: 222 (1-3): 234-241.
4. Dekeirsschieter J., Verheggen F.J., Gohy M., Hubrecht F., Bourguignon L., Loghany G., Haubruge E. Cadaveric volatile
organic compounds released by decaying pig carcasses (Sus domesticus L.) in different biotopes. Forensic Sci Int, 2009:
189 (1-3): 46-53.
5. Forbes S.L., Perrault K.A., Stefanuto P-H., Nizio K.D., Focant J-F. Comparison of the Decomposition VOC Profile
during Winter and Summer in a Moist, Mid-Latitude (Cfb) Climate. PLoS ONE. 2015: 9 (11): e113681
6. Forbes S.L., Perrault K.A. Decomposition Odour Profiling in the Air and Soil Surrounding Vertebrate Carrion. PLoS
ONE. 2014: 9 (4): e95107
7. Statheropoulos M., Agapiou A., Spiliopoulou C., Pallis G.C., Sianos E. Environmental aspects of VOCs evolved in the
early stages of human decomposition. Sci Total Environ. 2007: 385 (1-3): 221-227.
557 *Presenting Author
8. Kranz W., Kitts K., Strange N., Cummins J., Lotspeich E., Goodpaster J. On the smell of Composition C-4. Forensic Sci
Int 2014: 236: 157-163

Excavations at Cova Bonica (Barcelona, Spain) have revealed 98 human remains, grouped into five age clusters and corresponding to a minimum of six non-articulated individuals. The remains are clearly associated with Cardial pottery, lithic artifacts, and ornaments suggesting an Early Neolithic horizon. The radiocarbon dating of three human individuals provides a reliable attribution to this period, with a range between ca. 5470 and 5220 CAL B.C., identifying it as one of the few assemblages of human remains directly dated from this period. These remains correspond to a rare collective human inhumation and join a growing body of samples from the Cardial Neolithic, which is providing some of the important sites for the study of population movement and the spread of Neolithization along the western Mediterranean coast.

This book examines the sometimes fraught interactions and relationships between contemporary Pagan groups and archaeological heritage managers in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. It uses ethnographic field research, conducted by the author between 2008 and 2013, and literature analysis to analyse those interactions. The two key areas examined are access to, interpretation of and preservation of ancient sites, and the archaeological examination, storage and display or reburial of ancient human remains. The book includes a detailed analysis of the reasons presented in the discourse of contestation and the underlying attitudes behind the issues. It concludes with some thoughts on how heritage managers and archaeologists may better manage their interactions with the Pagan community in the future.

For the first time a 3D-print was produced from a human bog body. The famous Yde-girl from the collection of the Drents Museum in Assen (The Netherlands) was taken as example to investigate the possibilities and limitations of scanning and printing a human body.

Enthesopathies, in the guise of musculoskeletal skeletal stress markers (MSM), have been widely used to reconstruct activity levels in human skeletal populations. In general, studies have focused on their presence in the upper limb, which is used in the majority of daily activities. The aim of this study was to use some of the attachment sites on the humerus to explore the relationship between enthesopathy formation, activity, and the ageing process. The skeletal sample used in this study comprised male adult skeletons with known age-at-death and known occupations from the late-19th and early-20th century cemeteries in Portugal. The enthesopathies were recorded as either present or absent. Statistical analysis using Fishers exact tests and logistic regression was undertaken to determine whether associations could be found between specific activities or socioeconomic status (manual or nonmanual workers), and age and enthesopathy presence. Left and right sides were analyzed separately. Fisher's exact tests were used to determine the relationship between activity and enthesopathy, and they demonstrated no association between activity and enthesopathies (P > 0.01). The results of the logistic regression established that age was the single most significant factor in enthesopathy formation (P > 0.05). This study found that, in these samples, age-at-death, and therefore age-related degeneration rather than degeneration caused by activities, was the primary cause of enthesopathy formation. Considering the difficulties of reliably ageing adult human skeletal remains, this is a major issue for studies of activity using enthesopathies. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

This work shows an easy and fast methodology based on LIBS technique for trace element analysis of human bones with special reference to diet and nutrition. The presented methodology does not require a sample preparation. The analysed bones' samples were retrieved from the human remains of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor.

La necropoli di via Peschiera, rinvenuta negli anni ’80 a Castelfranco Emilia, ha evidenziato la presenza di differenti tipi di rituali funerari, oltre a uno sfruttamento intensivo dello spazio sepolcrale. Circa 20 deposizioni si sono succedute in un lasso di tempo tutto sommato contenuto, dalla tarda età repubblicana fino alla prima età imperiale. La sua posizione rispetto al centro di Forum Gallorum, la disposizione delle sepolture e la sua estensione rendono plausibile l’ipotesi che potesse far parte di una più vasta area di necropoli, facente capo al vicus stesso.

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.