Abstract

HERRERA, Jorge M.; GOMEZ GOYZUETA, Fernando  and  JIMENEZ, Pamela. Forensic maritime archaeology: critical thinking, theory and marine geophysics as key tools for the search for missing persons in submerged contexts. Inter disciplina [online]. 2023, vol.11, n.31, pp.121-154.  Epub Nov 10, 2023. ISSN 2448-5705.  https://doi.org/10.22201/ceiich.24485705e.2023.31.86292.

This article discusses the theoretical, methodological, and instrumentation considerations with which it is possible and necessary to work to assist in the detection of human remains in submerged contexts in a scientific, systematic, and reproducible manner. This work is also co-participating in the purpose of making archeology a tool to help close deeply painful processes among families who have suffered losses in the serious context of forced disappearances in Mexico today. The following key elements are considered as part of the analysis: 1) the need for an explicitly theoretical development in archeology that incorporates strategies for solving questions, as is the case with processual archaeology; 2) the analysis of taphonomic alterations that will affect a human body and that appear in the scenario of a submerged context, and, 3) the development of a surveying methodology that incorporates state-of-the-art technologies in contemporary maritime archaeology, with an emphasis on positioning instrumentation, geophysics, robotics, photogrammetry, and technical and scientific diving.

Keywords : forced disappearances; archaeological theory; maritime archaeology; marine geophysics; forensic maritime archeology.

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