Field Archaeologists as Eyewitnesses to Site Looting

Facial Composite Production by Eyewitnesses

The creation of facial images by eyewitnesses using composite-production systems can be important for the investigation of crimes when the identity of the perpetrator is at issue. Despite technological advances, research indicates that composite-production systems produce poor likenesses of intended faces, even familiar faces. Furthermore, producing a composite appears to harm later recognition...

Archaeologists: Cities deserve better treatment

Society & Culture[1] Society & Culture[1]Archaeology [2]Denmark [3]Videnskab.dk [4] Urban archaeology is one of our best archives of the development of society and people. Until now it has been neglected but this can and must change, say two archaeologists. Cities are some of the best archives we have of the development of people and societies, and so we should start treating them as such, says...

Why eyewitnesses fail.

Eyewitness identifications play an important role in the investigation and prosecution of crimes, but it is well known that eyewitnesses make mistakes, often with serious consequences. In light of these concerns, the National Academy of Sciences recently convened a panel of experts to undertake a comprehensive study of current practice and use of eyewitness testimony, with an eye toward underst...

Juries and Eyewitnesses

Looting and Gambling in Banking Crises∗

We construct a model of the banking firm and use it to study bank behavior and bank regulatory policy during crises. In our model, during a crisis a bank can increase the risk of its asset portfolio (“risk shift”), convert bank assets to the personal benefit of the bank manager (“loot”), or do both. Each action is socially costly. To mitigate such actions, a regulator has three policy tools: it...