Advanced Human Remains and Recovery Fire Death Investigation Course

The aim of this course is to instruct participants on the identification and recovery of burned human remains from various types of fire scenes as well as to understand the approach of skeletal analysis from burnt remains.

This course is designed as a basic introduction to fire investigation and anthropological analysis with a heavy focus on field experience. This week-long course includes three days of applied work. This course is taught by a team of anthropologists and experienced fire investigators. Classroom course content is listed in the fire death investigation course description below.

After attending this course, participants will be able to recognize burnt human remains, design and operationalize a recovery plan for highly fragmented and thermally altered material, and understand how an anthropologist would complete an anthropology report on thermally altered remains.

All classroom course material will be in conjunction with the fire death investigation course. The anthropology module is specifically related to the field exercises. During these exercises, recovery scenes are worked in conjunction with fire investigators to determine cause and origin of the simulated fires, but the anthropology module participants recover and analyze the human remains discovered within the scenes.

Students must have consent from FACTS before applying to the anthro module. Previous knowledge of human skeletal anatomy is desired but not mandatory for involvement in the course.

Participants in the Anthro Module ONLY PAY for through the Anthro Module link. Payment for Anthro Module is NOT through the fire death investigation course.


Please contact Dr. Sophia Mavroudas, sm78@txstate.edu for more information.