Tale of the Bones Peter Killoran brings forensic science to UW-Whitewater
Released: September 17, 2004
Like the way a gun barrel carves its signature into a fired bullet, the accumulated wear and tear of life — injuries, disease, malnutrition, work stress — all leave signatures in skeletal remains, telling a story about how a person lived and died.
The ability to tell this story has produced amazing insights into the human experience for Peter Killoran, an expert in biological anthropology. As a new sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Killoran will be working to pass on these scientific story-telling skills to current students.
Killoran is the first faculty hire in what will become a forensics emphasis in UW-Whitewater’s College of Letters and Sciences. He is teaching a special topics course this fall on forensic science, and will be forging partnerships with faculty in chemistry, biology, psychology and criminal justice to eventually create a unique track of forensics courses.
When most people hear forensics, they likely think of the criminal applications made popular by the "CSI" television series. While Killoran has worked on some homicide cases, his expertise is in gathering evidence when development encroaches on ancient grave sites.
With urban and suburban expansion unearthing more and more land, Killoran said he receives calls all the time to help identify and protect remains.
"A lot of our work is tied into our current values coming into collision with development and the expansion of our society," Killoran said. "We’ve realized we have to be thoughtful about this. In some cases we have all-out stopped a development out of respect for the dead or because the cost to history was too high."
Many of Killoran’s calls are in relation to the Native American Graves Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). This legislation requires developments to be altered to avoid disturbing Native American burial sites. Killoran’s work involves documenting information about age, tribe and other factors.
But Killoran’s research has focused on dramatic discoveries — none more so than the 2002 discovery of a 19th Century pauper’s cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. This grave site of 272 people — found to be many of the workers who built the capitol city — was inexplicably lost to recorded history.
"It was discovered during planning for a department of transportation building," he said. "The site was once covered with houses and was built on for years. The developers started digging and hit one grave after another. The next thing you know, we’re out there for three months excavating bodies."
As a faculty member at Northern Kentucky University, Killoran was part of a research team that used forensics tools to tell the story of this lost settlement. For example, the settlement was remarkably diverse, with a relatively even mix of European and African descendents. They found high childhood mortality rates, but also found a high number of people who lived into their 50s and 60s — unusual for that time.
"These were people who somehow escaped the bullet of disease or illness or injury early in life," he said. "What it tells you is people were taking care of the elderly."
Another research project, which stemmed from his doctorate work at Binghamton University, investigated the people who lived and died in the 19th Century poor houses of New York State. Partly a response to immigration, these were America’s first primitive attempts at a "safety net" for the indebted and destitute. Many of these lives cannot be documented in existing written records, and the unearthing of unmarked burial sites has been commonplace.
Mortality rates were high in these houses, Killoran said. They warehoused not only the indebted, but people who were unable to function due to mental illness, disease or disability. "You can see the beginning of the way we treated people in trouble," he said.
"A lot of these buildings were transformed into other state institutions, like old folks homes or prisons or orphanages. They didn’t keep track of the institutional history, they start putting up new buildings and expanded parking lots. And suddenly I get a call."
It has been a very sensitive issue, Killoran said. In many cases these were working people who had fallen on hard times; the connection is difficult for relatives who are alive today.
Both the Frankfort and New York sites share a common thread, Killoran said, in that they document a hardscrabble existence that was very much a part of the American experience. "We have a tremendous window on how and what everyday people were doing — the people who don’t end up in history books."
Killoran is excited about bringing his expertise to UW-Whitewater, in part because of its strong program in criminal justice and the possibilities for collaboration. Killoran hopes to infuse future police officers with a basic understanding of forensics that is important in the profession today.
The American Academy of Forensic Science is working to bring professional standards to the field. There are rigorous programs in forensic science, but also a growing number of "diploma mills" that offer forensic degrees for virtually no work. Killoran said crime scenes can become compromised and evidence destroyed if a basic background in forensics is lacking.
While UW-Whitewater plans to build the forensics program thoughtfully, Killoran said the immediate benefit will be offering students exposure to a very rich science.
"Everything that happens to the individual and the cultural surrounding leaves some kind of signature," he said. "That’s what we do — we teach students to recognize the different signatures. What we’re really doing is developing a critical way for students to look at patterns and processes. I see that as incredibly valuable work, regardless of what you decide to do with the rest of your life."
- Brian Mattmiller,npa@uww.edu
