• Marcel A Verhoff, Jonathan Krähahn, Wilfried Schunk, Marion Heyne, Frank Ramsthaler, Reinhard Dettmeyer, and Kerstin Kreutz.
• Institut für Rechtsmedizin am Universitätsklinikum Giessen und Marburg.
• Arch Kriminol. 2008 Jul 1; 222 (1-2): 38-51.

AbstractA human skeleton was found during construction work on the concrete foundations of a fence built 17 years before. The situation seemed to suggest that a corpse had been disposed of 17 years ago. Forensic and osteological examinations showed that death had been caused by semi-sharp and blunt craniocerebral trauma. However, there were morphological findings which indicated that the body had been buried in soil for at least 50 years. Several additional objects found nearby and the proximity to the Limes pointed to a Roman context. With the help of the radiocarbon method, the time of death could be dated to about 245-263 AD. A recent act of violence could hence be ruled out. According to the situation at the scene, it had to be assumed, however, that the skeleton must have been discovered already during the construction work done 17 years before and that the find had not been reported. Such behaviour is a phenomenon quite often encountered in practice.

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