Forensic archaeology is the application of archaeology to aid legal investigations. Forensic archaeology is fairly new to the scene, having been around for the last decade or so. It has been widely accepted in Great Britain, and is becoming steadily recognised in more and more places in the United States.

Often working hand-in-hand with anthropologists, the forensic archaeologist will study the scene to carefully help locate and remove artefacts. This field can also be useful in helping to determine features of the remains such as sex, age, and other characteristics. Some common tasks carried out by a forensic archaeologist are as followed.

Searching for unlocated crime scenes – search teams are organised, systematic and comprehensive search techniques, and the flagging or collection of evidence is often involved

Identifying grave locations – a range of pedestrian and geophysical techniques are used, such as aerial photography, geophysical prospection, satellite imagery, and surveying, plus trenching and excavating

Assessing the scene – ensuring that as much information as possible will be extracted from the scene

Scene documentation and mapping – documenting the scene in the beginning, before an excavation destroys it

Excavation and recovery – first certain questions must be asked, regarding what happened at the scene, what tools were used, whether the grave has been disrupted, what was used to fill the grave, and what other samples should be taken (such as pollen or insects)

Scene reconstruction – with traditional archaeological methods, it is often possible to reconstruct what happened at a scene

Documenting and reporting – all evidence is properly documented so as not to disrupt the chain of custody