Presented at South-Western Anthropological Association
Annual conference in San Jose, California
April 16, 17 & 18, 2004

Abstract:
This presentation will focus on the observation that the age of human skeletal remains does not seem to be a factor in the trained canine's ability to detect scent from human remains.

With the cooperation of Czech researchers during their summer excavations in 2003, we were able to successfully test the ability of a trained canine to detect undiscovered skeletal human remains dating from 1200 to 1600 AD.

At a second site in the Czech Republic the canine team detected scent from human remains at an ancient Celtic site which dates from 800 to 200 BC.

Key words:
Human remains detection, remote sensing, canine, ancient burials,
Czech Republic

Introduction:
An ancient cemetery was established in Central Bohemia circa 1230 AD with last burials dating to circa 1600 AD. The Museum of Pardubice has conducted archaeological digs at this site since 1995.
I was granted a permit to visit this location and to search the site with my dog Ness, a 3 year old Border Collie, trained in Human Remains Detection.

History:
Bohemia, or the Czech Republic as it is now called, is located in the heart of Europe. In pre Roman times these Central European Lands were first occupied by Celts. Celtic tribes later spread to Western Europe and the British Isles. Slavic and Germanic tribes then occupied the old Celtic settlements.

Background:
The city of Pardubice is about 100 kilometers (or 60 miles) east of Prague. It is where this excavated battlefield site is located in a suburban setting. It lies next to an existing Christian church and a cemetery.
In 1995, the East Bohemian Museum started excavations. A Monastery once stood here; excavations revealed its foundations. According to local legend some of the early people buried here died in a battle. Recent research has demonstrated that the true location of this battle fought by Pemysl Otakar I. was some 20 kilometers away. Nonetheless, human remains were found.
In the same vicinity a coin, dating to 1230 AD was found.

Searches at Pardubice

June 11, 2003, Pardubice
This was an extremely hot and humid day. There was no wind. Temperatures reached 36 degrees centigrade (or about 97 degrees Fahrenheit.) Let me point out that our dogs do not dig, retrieve, mouth or soil anything they find. They are trained to do a passive alert, a "sit" or a "down" when they detect the presence of human remains. My dog Nessie's alert is a "sit". And when asked to "show me", she will point the spot with her nose or a paw.

We entered the excavated area and I gave my dog a search command.
Shortly after that Nessie alerted. I inspected the place and saw that there were skeletal fragments and a tooth in the grass, exposed to elements. These bones were weathered. The sandy soil washed off them quickly after the excavation. They need to be reburied. We did not dig here as this was a previously excavated area.

About 10 meters from this location Ness alerted in an untouched area. There were 2 human teeth on the ground hidden by tall grass. No other bones were visible. After a few moments Ness alerted again about 3 ft away from the teeth.

I put Ness down in the shade and we removed the top layer of the grass and its roots. This exploratory dig revealed human skeletal remains. They were buried about 20 centimeters below the surface in a sandy soil.

These skeletal remains are what we call "a dog find." We were digging here because the dog indicated their presence on the surface and under ground.

On a hot day like this, the dog can only work 10 to 15 minutes before its nose gets fatigued. When the ambient temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the ground temperature is often 120 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

After a sufficient water break I worked Ness again. This time she alerted on a spot near the fence. We decided that it was too hot to continue the work. We marked the spot and decided to return to it later.

July 10, 2004, Pardubice
We returned to the same burial ground a month later. Weather that day was normal for a summer day. Temperatures were around 26 degrees centigrade, with light and swirling wind.

Ness was deployed with a search command and alerted on a grassy overhang. Again she was right. There was a broken bone protruding about a half inch from a sandy bank. Exploratory dig revealed a radius, a femur and many bone fragments.

Searches at Slepotice

August 27, 2003, Slepotice
On this day the temperature was about 25 centigrade, with an extremely strong northern wind. These are much better search conditions despite the strong wind.
Dr. Martina Bekova of Museum Rychnov nad Kneznou invited us to her excavation site in Slepotice, an ancient Celtic village dated from 800 to 200 BC.

As at the previous site, this site is about 65 kilometers East of Prague. It is near a river, the soil is very sandy. Excavation of this site started in 2002 and is ongoing. Working tools and artifacts such as earrings, buttons and beads helped to determine the date and the Celt cultural origins of this village. Slavic tribes occupied this village after the 7th century AD. The village consists of many habitats, some equipped with cooking pits.

The two graves found here were interesting and unexpected discoveries, as the Celts buried their dead outside the village.

First grave
Together with one of the skeletal remains were artifacts indicating a higher caste Celt woman. Her skeletal remains were removed just two weeks prior to our visit. The site had a classic, elongated shape of a grave. It was 1 1/2 feet deep.
Ness started searching and alerted in the grave in the head area. This site was dated to 100 BC.

Second grave
The second burial site was at the base of a building. It was a large, square area excavated to about 1 ft deep. Skeletal remains had been found here. They were removed two weeks before our search, but most of the soil surrounding the skeleton was collected and sifted for artifacts about 20 ft away.
Ness checked many mounds and perfectly alerted on the "correct" one. This site was dated to 300 AD.
Both burials were out of place. This was not a burial ground, but a village with many dwellings. Both women were buried here after the Celts left around 200 BC. Although the graves were robbed and vandalized, two silver clasps were found. There was a silver coin in one hand.
Neither of these two Celt burials were Ness’s original find. However, she alerted correctly in both places.

Conclusion:

2004
Let's go back to Pardubice. Remember the spot near the fence where Ness alerted in June 2003 when it was too hot to continue the work?
It is now February 2004. One of my Czech trainees returned to this site for an exploratory dig. She has found more skeletal remains.

Ness was right on!

Can properly trained dogs detect ancient burials?
Under the right soil and weather conditions they sure can.