Recovery and Identification of Unrecovered War Casualties

The genesis of national approaches to the recovery of unrecovered war casualties can be traced to the establishment of the Red Cross (1863) and the influence of Geneva Conventions and other legal and regulatory instruments dating from 1864 to the present. The currently applied range of methodological approaches to the recovery of unrecovered war casualties around the world reflects national imperatives, belief systems, resources and illustrates an evolution of approach facilitated by technical and scientific development over the last thirty years. This article explores currently applied methods and approaches to the excavation of unrecovered war casualties and sets out key issues to consider when seeking to attribute an identification to individual casualties.