The Body in the Box

Name: Date: Equipment: Box of bones, ruler, calculator Amongst the equipment for this activity is a box containing half a human skeleton (yes, the bones are real!). It might seem logical to assume that all the bones come from one person, but this would be based solely on the fact that they are all in the same box and is not necessarily true. Your task is to determine whether the bones do, in fact, all belong to the same person. 1. Examine the skull and the section of pelvis. Using the information in the Anthropology section of the forensic science on-line unit, decide whether you think the skull is male or female. 2. Measure the length of the femur, tibia, humerus and radius (ask your teacher if you need help identifying them) and, based on your decision of the sex of the skull, calculate the height of the individual the bones came from. Use the height calculation formulae in the Anthropology section Enter your results in the table below Measurements from Male/Female Bone set
(cross out the incorrect sex based on your internet research)

Bone Femur Humerus Radius Tibia

Length of bone

Calculated height

Conclusion Do all these bones come from the same person? Why/Why not?

Extension: Research the origins of this set of formulae. Find and test other systems for determining height.