Cartography Datapoint: Truckstops

Who were "The Children of Israel" who invaded the land of Canaan? There's a view widely (though not universally) embraced among Biblical Archaeologists that the "Israelites" were really Canaanites---but Canaanites who had fled the cities to take shelter in refuges among the hills. Archaeologists stumbled on this view, so I am told, by studying maps and codifying settlement patterns (I learn this from these guys).

Comes now a chilling variant on the same technique as US law enforces look for a pattern in serial killings of the young, rootless and vulnerable. Here's the pattern:


In a word, "truckstops." Scott Glover in the La Times explains:

A computer database maintained by the FBI has grown to include information on more than 500 female crime victims, most of whom were killed and their bodies discarded at truck stops, motels and other locations along popular trucking routes crisscrossing the U.S.

The database also has information on scores of truckers who've been charged with killings or rapes committed near highways or who are suspects in such crimes, officials said. Authorities said they do not have statistics on whether driving trucks ranks high on the list of occupations of known serial killers.

But the pattern in roadside body dumps and other evidence has prompted many investigators to speculate that the mobility, lack of supervision and access to potential victims that come with the job make it a good cover for someone inclined to kill.

H/T: Joel again.