Just Forensic Archaeology and Body Dump Sites

Guest Biography

Dr. Sharon K. Moses is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology/Archaeology from Cornell University where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow as well as the recipient of the Cornell Sage Full Ride Fellowship. Her dissertation work was based upon World Heritage site, Çatalhöyük, Turkey, and the ritual use of human remains placed under house floors. Her research was conducted under the direction of Professor Nerissa Russell (Cornell University) and Professor Ian Hodder (Stanford University). Dr. Moses is a registered professional archaeologist and specializes in forensic archaeology. She received post-doctoral training in forensic art and is a certified composite artist. Dr. Moses teaches both forensic archaeology and forensic art at Northern Arizona University where she also created and acts as Coordinator over the Social Science Forensic minor program. She volunteers her skills in forensic facial reconstructions in 2-D (drawings) or 3-D (clay over skull cast) for missing or unidentified persons cases and has consulted or participated with law enforcement as a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist in outdoor crime scene body recovery cases. Dr. Moses is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Southwestern Association for Forensic Scientists, and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Dr. Moses was a recipient of the Robert Gaffney Achievement Award in 2019 for “outstanding contribution to forensic science” from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). Moses serves as an AAFS Regional Representative who assesses applicants seeking to join the Academy. Dr. Moses’ current research interests are in geographic profiling combined with forensic archaeological skills to locate victims in “no-body” homicides. Moses has published articles regarding geographic profiling and is currently contributing to UK environmental profiler, David Canter’s latest book on the subject. Dr. Moses has been working on a facial reconstruction of a 50-year-old unsolved case in Manchester, UK of human remains left in a derelict building. Dr. Moses is in the final stages of completing a textbook on psychological anthropology/criminology and the development of forensic science and crime scene methodology under historical and cultural influences.