A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ON EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE OF WITNESSES USING BEOS PROFILING

This review study focuses on a forensic psychological tool, Brain electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling, and its mechanism. In precise, this paper reviews the studies of eyewitness testimony and BEOS in particular. The previous empirical studies and review articles elucidate that BEOS can be used to overcome the effect of internal and external factors in eyewitness testimony. False memory or confabulatory experiences would not affect the accuracy of Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling. During the trial process, witness testimony can do through BEOS in the future. More empirical researches are necessary for the application of forensic psychology tools in the field of witness testimony.

Preserving Holocaust History: Geophysical Investigations at the Ponary (Paneriai) Extermination Site

Holocaust mass grave sites in eastern Europe can be difficult to investigate due to a paucity of historical documentation relating to the events and because using traditional invasive archaeology methods raises concerns around the disturbance of the remains of Jewish people. When combined with other lines of evidence, including historic photos and eyewitness testimony, non-invasive geophysical methods help to effectively identify and demarcate buried features at Holocaust sites, limiting unnecessary excavations. Between 1941 and 1944, as many as 100,000 people were murdered at the Ponary (Paneriai) extermination site in Lithuania, but many critical details of the site layout during this period are still to be resolved, including the location of some of the mass graves and confirmation of an escape tunnel that was used by slave labourers to escape captivity and certain death at the site. In this study, we show how a combination of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profiling, limited ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data, and bare-earth elevation data (from a light and distance ranging (LiDAR) dataset) were used to confirm the location of a large unmarked mass grave with a diameter of ~25 metres and depth of ~4 metres. Additional ERT profiling at a second location imaged the entrance to an escape tunnel previously uncovered by an archaeological excavation in 2004, and detected a ~5 metre section of the continuation of the tunnel, approximately 33 metres away from the tunnel entrance. The geophysical results are supported by evidence from limited archaeological excavations, historical photographs, eyewitness descriptions of the site layout, and testimonies from the few survivors who managed to escape Ponary.