Caroline Sturdy Colls

Caroline Sturdy Colls (born 1980) is a lecturer in forensic investigation at Staffordshire University specializing in identification of human remains, forensic archaeology and crime scene investigation. She serves as Research Lead for the Centre of Archaeology there, but also undertakes consultancy for the UK Police forces. Her main area of interest is the methodology of investigation into the Holocaust and genocide murder sites with special consideration given to ethical and religious norms associated with the prohibition of excavating a grave.^[1][2][3][4]

Sturdy Colls graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2007 with a BA(Hons) in Archaeology and Ancient History, and with the MPhil in Archaeological Practice in 2008. In 2012 she completed her PhD thesis in Archaeology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham, titled "Holocaust Archaeology: Archaeological Approaches to Landscapes of Nazi Genocide and Persecution".^[1] She is the author of numerous scientific publications, lectures and selected books on the subject,^[5][6] not to mention TV interviews and documentaries.^[7]

Archaeological studies

A team of archeologists led by Sturdy Colls appeared in the Smithsonian film made for television about the most recent excavations on the grounds of the Treblinka extermination camp Museum, leading to the discovery of several floor tiles made by Dziewulski & Lange ceramic factory, and that she believed to have been used in the lining of the gas chambers.^[8] Approval for a limited archaeological study was issued for the first time in 2010 to a British team from Staffordshire using non-invasive technology and Lidar remote sensing notably, because neither the authorities nor the Jewish religious leaders in Poland allowed excavations at the camp out of respect for the dead. Sturdy Colls analyzed soil resistance at the site with ground-penetrating radar.^[9] Features that appeared to be structural were found, two of which were thought to be the remains of the gas chambers, and therefore the study was allowed to continue.^[10]

The archaeological team discovered three new mass graves. At the site of the previously unknown foundations several yellow tiles were unearthed, pressed with a symbol D✡L resembling a “Star of David”. The logo was soon identified as the pierced mullet star belonging to the Polish ceramics factory from Opoczno founded by Jan Dziewulski and brothers Józef and Władysław Lange.^[11][12][13] It was therefore not the Star of David as reported by the Israeli Ynet News service which made the announcement.^[14] Nevertheless, the tiles located by the ground-penetrating radar provided first physical evidence of the existence of the gas chambers in Camp Two.^{[8][14][15][16]}

Selected Publications

Books

• Sturdy Colls, C. (contrib.) Forensic Architecture (2014), Forensis: The Architecture of Public Truth. Berlin: Sternberg Press. ISBN 978-3-95679-011-9.
• Sturdy Colls, C., with Hunter, J. and Simpson B. (2013), Forensic Approaches to Buried Remains. Wiley, London. ISBN 978-0-470-66629-6.
• Sturdy Colls, C. (in print) Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions. New York: Springer.
• Sturdy Colls, C. (in print) Finding Treblinka. Archaeological Investigations at Treblinka Extermination and Labour Camps, 2014 in English and Polish.

Book Chapters

• Sturdy Colls, C. and Colls, K. (2014), "Reconstructing a painful past: A non-invasive approach to reconstructing Lager Norderney in Alderney, the Channel Islands." In Ch’ng, E. (ed.) Visual Heritage in the Digital Age. New York: Springer.
• Sturdy Colls, C. with Hunter, J. (2013), "Archeology." In Siegel, J. and Saukko, P. (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Forensic Sciences. 2nd edition. Vol. 1, pp.18-32. Waltham: Academic Press.
• Sturdy Colls, C. (2013), "Ocena archeologiczna teren bylego Obozu Zaglady w Treblince / Archaeological Survey of the Former Extermination Camp at Treblinka. Co wiemy o Treblince? Stan Badan." Warsaw (Polish) (English).

Papers

• Sturdy Colls, C. (2014), "Gone but not forgotten: Archaeological approaches to the landscape of the former extermination camp at Treblinka, Poland," Holocaust Studies and Materials.
• Sturdy Colls, C. and Colls, K. (2013), "The Alderney Archaeological Research Project 2010-2012." Alderney Society Bulletin.
• Sturdy Colls, C. (2013), "The Archaeology of the Holocaust." British Archaeology Nr 130, p. 50-53.
• Sturdy Colls, C. (2012), "Holocaust Archaeology: Archaeological Approaches to Landscapes of Nazi Genocide and Persecution." Journal of Conflict Archaeology Nr 7(2), 71-105.
• Sturdy Colls, C. (2012), "O tym, co minelo, lecz nie zostalo zapomniane. Badania archeologiczne na terenie bylego obozu zaglady w Treblince." Zaglada Zydow. Studia i Materialy Nr 8, 77-112. (Polish)

References