This paper explores the current state of forensic anthropology in the United States as a distinct discipline. Forensic anthropology has become increasingly specialized and the need for strengthened professionalization is becoming paramount. This includes a need for clearly defined qualifications, training, standards of practice, certification processes, and ethical guidelines. Within this discussion, the concept of expertise is explored in relation to professionalization and practice, as both bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology have different areas of specialist knowledge, and therefore unique expertise. As working outside one’s area of expertise is an ethical violation, it is important for professional organizations to outline requisite qualifications, develop standards and best practice guidelines, and enforce robust preventive ethical codes in order to serve both their professional members and relevant stakeholders.

Investigating missing persons who are presumed dead in conflict contexts almost always involves witness interviews. Interviews can be critical both to locating burial sites and to positively identifying bodies that are located. Despite the importance of interviews, the authors have found that investigators in these contexts seldom have formal training on interviewing. This article highlights three principal problems that the authors have experienced relative to interviewing as part of missing persons investigations in armed conflict contexts: that interviewing is not treated as a professional activity; the tendency to overvalue technical tools in the search for burial sites; and a lack of awareness about cultural and contextual factors that impact interviews. The article concludes with five recommendations on how to improve witness interviewing.

In late July 2021, the Ministry of Veteran Affairs of the People’s Republic of China released a statement about the repatriation of the remains of Chinese soldi

La violencia y el conflicto no son estados permanentes de los colectivos humanos y, al igual que otros comportamientos sociales, están insertos en contextos complejos. Constituyen fenómenos dinámicos, culturalmente definidos e históricamente contextualizados, que han sido interpretados como prácticas sociales arraigadas en el tiempo.