Final answer:
During Graves Registration, it is essential to follow protocols for handling deceased service members with respect, ensuring proper identification, and noting whether the remains are primary or secondary deposits to determine the post-death timeline and adherence to burial customs.
Step-by-step explanation:
When handling deceased service members during Graves Registration, one is to follow specific protocols that ensure respect and proper identification. Originally, primary deposits refer to bodies that remained intact from the time of death up to their discovery, indicating they decomposed on-site without external interference. This contrasts with secondary deposits, where significant joint disarticulation indicates bodies began decomposing elsewhere before burial.
Certain graves may contain a mix of both types of deposits, with primary deposits showing better anatomical articulation surrounded by more scattered secondary deposits. These findings can provide insight into the time elapsed between death and burial, as well as adherence to particular burial customs, such as those found in Jewish tradition.
In historical contexts, such as that depicted on the Dipylon Krater, the dead were honored with a funeral procession (ekphora) and laying out of the body (prothesis) before being placed in a stone coffin with goods, marked by grave stele and a mound.