Wednesday 20 June 2007

Kuru building 2c: this photograph shows the bones left behind after the destruction of the mass grave by the Turkish military.

In fieldwork notes and subsequent analysis, I observed that:
In the very poor light available, the few remaining bones looked very greyish-black; some villagers attributed this to the Turkish army's use of chemicals on the site, although that's wholly unconfirmed.
Before, I could only go on what I'd seen during the flash of the camera; now I've been able to upload and look at the photos. Some of the bones are greyish-black, others brown, while some of the long bones have new breaks in them (clearly visible because of the contrast between the brown or greyish-black exterior and the cream interior).

The newly-broken bones could have been trodden on by anyone and their presence cannot do anything apart from confirm some form of disturbance. The brown bones may be covered in or stained by dirt, soil, etc. and we cannot infer anything from their mere presence; scientific analysis could have told us something - if only that they were stains from the soil - but that is now impossible. The only greyish-black bones I've seen have been exposed to fire, burned.
Elsewhere, I've collated sources on the story of the mass grave's destruction and examined the excuses given when it was covered up. The other annotated photographs are available here: 2a; 2b; 2d.

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