Forensic sciences is the umbrella term used to describe the different disciplines used in resolving forensic medicolegal, criminal, and humanitarian investigations. Physical anthropology played a key role since the inception of the field, and forensic anthropologists are often in charge of the recovery of human remains. The use of archaeological methods, first advocated in the late 1970s, developed into what we call today forensic archaeology; that is, the scientific discipline combining archaeological theories, methods, and field techniques with criminalistics in the context of a forensic investigation. This study follows the birth and development of forensic archaeology in Cyprus, as implemented by foreign experts and Cypriot scientists in the Republic of Cyprus. The author discusses examples from both criminal and humanitarian forensic investigations, their respective contexts, and the stakeholders involved to illustrate the different trajectories in Cypriot forensic archaeology. This shows that in some respects the discipline remains nascent, while in others there is a high level of local expertise that can be developed further.
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of Competing Interest: The author reports no declarations of interest.
In 1981, the talks between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders resulted in the establishment of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), as a tripartite bi-communal committee taking decisions on the basis of consensus. It is comprised of three Members, representing the Greek Cypriot community, the Turkish Cypriot community, while the Third Member is nominated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General.
Background: In 1981, the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) was established with a clear purpose: to determine the fate of the missing Greek and Turkish Cypriots who disappeared during the periods 1963-64 and 1974. Following many years of investigations and negotiations, such as on a mutually agreed list of 2001 missing persons (493 Turkish Cypriots and 1508 Greek Cypriots), the CMP officially began its operational phase in 2006 with a small number of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot scientists. Methods: This paper presents and analyses the development of the programme, the ways of providing assistance to other countries, and how the programme has influenced local and regional capacity. To do so, the authors performed qualitative and quantitative analyses to assess the programme accurately (annual staff numbers, annual excavations, exhumations and identifications, applied field and lab methods, internship and training programmes). Conclusions: The results show that the CMP has established a successful humanitarian programme, serving as a model for cooperation in a post-conflict environment. Since 2006, the team of scientists has grown in both numbers and experience, while the CMP has developed into a key player in the field of human identification that is able to provide expertise and technical assistance at a regional level. Ultimately, the authors were able to elucidate the current prospects and future perspectives of the programme to provide a holistic view to readers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.