Contested archaeological approaches to mass grave exhumations in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Within the last 50 years, present day Zimbabwe, (Figure 1), formerly Rhodesia, a Southern African country, has gone through various pogroms resulting in the death of over 50,000 people in total both within and outside the country. The massacres consist of the Liberation War (1966–1979); political violence characterized by every election since 1980; the Matabeleland Democide (1982–1987); and the diamond conflict in Marange, Eastern Zimbabwe (2006–2018). These various episodes of violence have produced a myriad of human body depositional sites which include mine shafts, mass graves at schools and hospitals, burials at detention centres, pit latrines, and caves. This paper will analyse the disagreements and antagonism between professional archaeologists and vernacular exhumers that emerged during various limited exhumation of mass graves within the country. The paper will conclude by offering avenues of approaches to mass graves exhumation as the material evidence might in future, subject to judicial inquiries, contribute towards truth telling and peace and reconciliation.     

陕西境内遗址表面CaSO42H2O产生之水盐运移规律研究

陕西境内遗址出土后短时间内表面产生白色物质CaSO₄2H₂O是非常普遍的现象。本研究利用土柱模拟遗址出土后表面产生CaSO₄2H₂O的过程,通过监测土柱中土壤的湿度、含盐量及离子变化综合分析CaSO₄2H₂O产生的原因,研究结果表明遗址出土后形成了新的界面层,在蒸发的作用下,地下水沿土壤孔隙向上迁移,同时将可溶盐带入土壤中,表面的可溶盐含量逐渐增大,达到峰值后不再增加,实验后测得表面土壤中的Ca²⁺和SO2-₄是原始土壤的数十倍,说明遗址表面产生CaSO₄2H₂O是水盐运移的结果。本研究可为遗址出土后预防CaSO₄2H₂O的产生提供依据。