Between Heritage Conservation and Forensic Science: An Analytical Study of Personal Items Found in Mass Graves of the Francoism (1939–1956) (Spain)

This article describes the case of the personal items found in common graves dated between 1939 and 1956 after the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), located in Paterna’s cemetery (Spain). It was important in this study to know the state of the conservation of the objects and to obtain clues about their origin and use just as in a forensic study. This would allow the moral restitution of the historical memory of the victims of the war conflict. The multi-technique strategy has included light and electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Materials of the early 20th century used in pencil sharpeners, glasses, cutlery, lighters, rings, and buttons or medications contained in small bottles and boxes have been identified and have enabled the lives of their owners to be reconstructed during their imprisonment and execution. All these objects exhibited a thin layer of adipocere, a well-known compound in forensic science formed during the decomposition of human and animal corpses. Interestingly, rare corrosion processes have been identified in two of the objects analyzed, which are linked to their proximity to the decomposing corpses of the deceased. Copper sulfides and/or sulfates have been identified in the lighter, and scholzite, a zinc and calcium phosphate, has been identified in the glasses.