Forensic Anthropology

Examination of Long
Bones
 Prescribed Proforma for Examination of
Bones
1. Bone or not?
2. Source: Human or animal?
3. Name of the bone/s
4. Belong to one individual or more?
5. Age of the individual?
6. Sex of the individual?
7. Stature (Body height / Length)?
8. Race of the individual?
9. Cause of death? Injuries are ante-mortem or post-mortem?
10. Time since death? - What was the time that elapsed between death and
discovery of the bones?
11. Manner of separation?
12. Identification? - Any distinguishing character of the individual that may
help in identifying the deceased? Are there any articles, which have been
found amongst skeleton remains, which can help in identification of the
deceased?
 Bone or not
• Gross Anatomical structure:
• Microscopic examination
• Chemical analysis
 Source: Human or animal
• Gross Anatomical characteristics:
• Microscopic examination
• Chemical analysis of bone or ash
• A precipetin test may help in distinguishing a human from an animal bone.
 Name of the bone/s
• Gross anatomical characteristics
 Belong to one individual or more?

• Whether the bones belong to one or more

persons can be easily found out by an anatomist
or physical anthropologist if bones are sorted out
in a systemic manner.
• Number, side and size of the bones
• Age and sex
• Morphological similarities
• Use of shortwave ultraviolet light
• X ray comparison of trabecular pattern
• Neutron activation analysis
 Age of the individual
• It is not possible to give the upper age
limit in later years
• Age can be estimated from Long bones.
Age Estimation From Humerus
Bone Bone Parts Female Male
Appearance Fusion Appearance Fusion
Humerus
Head 1 Year 14-16 Years 1 Year 14-18 Years

Greater 7 Months With head 2-4 7 Months With head 2-4

Tubercle Years Years

With Lesser With Lesser

Tubercle 5-7 Years Tubercle 5-7
Years

Trochlea 7-10 Years With Capetellum 9- 9-11 Years With Capitellum

13 Years 11-15 Years

Lateral 10 Years With Capitellum 10- 12 Years With Capitellum

Epicondyle 12 Years 11-16 Years

Medial 5 Years 14 Years 7 Years 16 Years

Epicondyle
 Age Estimation From
Radius

Bone Bone Parts Female Male

Appearance Fusion Appearance Fusion
Radius
Head 6 Years 14 Years 8 Years 16 Years
Distal End 1 Year 16.5 Years 1 Years 18 Years
 Age Estimation From Ulna

Bone Bone Parts Female Male

Appearance Fusion Appearance Fusion
Ulna
Olecranon 9-12 Years 15 Years 11-13 Years 17 Years
Distal End 8-10 Years 17 Years 10-11 Years 18 Years
Age Estimation From Femur
Bone Bone Parts Female Male

Appearance Fusion Appearance Fusion

Femur

Head 1 Years 14-15 Years 1 Years 16-17 Years

Greater 3 Years 14 Years 3 Years 17 Years

Trochanter
Lesser 1 Years 15-17 Years 1 Years 15-17 Years
Trochanter
Distal End Before Birth 14-17 Years Before Birth 14-17 Years
 Age Estimation From Tibia

Bone Bone Parts Female Male

Appearance Fusion Appearance Fusion
Tibia
Proximal Shortly 14-15 Shortly 16-17
End before Years Before Years
Birth Birth
Distal End 1 Years 14.1-14.4 1 Years 16 Years
Years
Age Estimation From Fibula

Bone Bone Parts Female Male

Appearance Fusion Appearance Fusion
Fibula
Proximal 2 Years 14-16 4 Years 14-16
End Years Years
Distal 1 Year 13-15 1 Year 14-16
End Years Year
 Sex of the individual
• General characteristics
• Specific changes in individual bone
• Examination of soft parts if available
• As a general rule, the female bones are smaller, lighter than
those of a male, and the muscular markings are not so
prominent as in case of the males.
• Sex of even a single bone can be determined with a fair
amount of precision.
• It is easy to determine the sex of an adult deceased when a
complete or an almost complete skeleton is available for
examination.
 Bones
Sex differentiating features in Femur

Features Male Female

Head Larger and forms about 2/3rd Smaller and forms less than
of a sphere 2/3rd of sphere
Vertical diameter more than Vertical diameter more than 45
47 mm mm

Neck Obtuse angle with the shaft Less obtuse angle with the
about 1250 shaft
Bicondylar 74 to 89 mm 67 to 76 mm
width

Angulation Around 800 Around 760

of the shaft
with
condyles
 Stature (Body height / Length)

• Use of multiplication factor

• It is better to estimate the height from
each bone and then taking the mean of
height so calculated, when several bones
are available. It gives a better
approximation to the real height of the
deceased.
 Multiplication Factor
Name of the Authors Male Female
bone

Femur Shah & Siddiqui 3.6 -

PAN 3.82 3.8

NAT 3.7 -

Singh & Shoha 3.57 -

Mehta & Thomas 3.6 3.75

 Multiplication Factor
Name of the Authors Male Female
bone

Tibia Shah & Siddiqui 4.2 -

PAN 4.49 4.46

NAT 4.48 -

Singh & Shoha 4.18 -

Mehta & Thomas 4.2 4.39

 Multiplication Factor
Name of the Authors Male Female
bone

Fibula Shah & Siddiqui 4.4 -

PAN 4.46 4.43

NAT 4.48 -

Singh & Shoha 4.35 -

Mehta & Thomas 4.44 4.55

 Multiplication Factor
Name of the Authors Male Female
bone

Humerus Shah & Siddiqui 5 -

PAN 5.31 5.31

NAT 5.3 -

Singh & Shoha 4.97 -

Mehta & Thomas 5.08 5.31

 Multiplication Factor
Name of the Authors Male Female
bone

Radius Shah & Siddiqui 6.3 -

PAN 6.78 6.7

NAT 6.9 -

Singh & Shoha 6.63 -

Mehta & Thomas 6.01 6.24

 Multiplication Factor
Name of the Authors Male Female
bone

Ulna Shah & Siddiqui 6 -

PAN 6 6

NAT 6.3 -

Singh & Shoha 5.93 -

Mehta & Thomas 6.4 6.85

 Race of the individual
• Racial variation in femur bone length in American black and
whites.

Variable White Black

Male Female Male Female
Maximum 434 399 449 416
Femoral
Length in
mm
Femur 377 - 480 338 - 455 379 - 480 355 - 473
length in
range in
mm
 Race of the individual
Crural index = length of Tibia X 100
length of Femur

Intermemmbral index = length of Humerus + length of the Radius X 100

length of Femur +length of the Tibia

Humerofemoral index = length of Humerus X 100

length of Femur

Brachial index = length of Radius X 100

length of Humerus
 Race of the individual

Index Indian European Black

Crural 86.49 89.3 86.2

Intermembral 67.27 70.4 70.3

Humero- 71.11 69 72.4

Femoral

Brachial 76.49 75.5 78.5

Cause of death & Injuries are ante-
mortem or post-mortem
• Any injury / fracture
• Foreign body: Bullets, Pellets and piece of weapon
• Chemical analysis for poisoning
• Neutron activation analysis
• It is quite difficult to determine cause of death.
• An opinion on these fractures however is difficult since the
antemortem evidence disappears rapidly after death.
• Bones or their charred remains may be subjected to
chemical analysis for the detection of metallic poisons,
such as arsenic, as these are not destroyed by heat.
• Neutron activation analysis technique helps to detect
certain poison in quantities for below the limits of
conventional analysis.
 Time since death - What was the time that
elapsed between death and discovery of the
bones?
• State of soft tissue if available
• Changes due to putrefaction
• Stages of healing in case of fracture
• These depends upon under which condition the skeletal remains
are found, whether exposed to surface or buried, whether found in
cold or warm season, as burial and cold weather slows the
decomposition.
• An inference about the time since death can be made from
following:
– In the process of skeletonisation, soft tissue disappear first, then
articular cartilage and finally the ligaments.
– In case of fracture examination of callous after dissecting it
longitudinally may give same clue as regards time.
– Bones are foul smelling and humid in recent cases (about 1 – 3
months).
– When they undergo putrefaction, they lose organic matter and therefore
become light and fragile. Such bones are dark or dark brown in colour.
The time required for putrefactive changes to take place in the bones
varies from 3 to 10 years.
 Manner of separation

• State of soft tissue if available with

marks of bite / cut
• Changes due to putrefaction
Identification? - Any distinguishing character of the individual
that may help in identifying the deceased? Are there any
articles, which have been found amongst skeleton remains,
which can help in identification of the deceased?

• Congenital abnormalities or deformities

• Acquired peculiarities –injuries / fracture etc
• Determination of blood group from the marrow / tooth pulp
• Age, sex, race and stature of the individual
• Radiological examination
• Marks on the skeleton, anomalies or peculiarities of structure that enable
an experienced examiner to make positive identification.
• Malunited fractures, healing fractures or deformity of bones are useful for
identity.
• An X-ray of any bone if taken during life, may be compared with an x-ray of
the same bone and it may help in identification.
• Determination of blood group antigens A, B and Rh from teeth pulp is also
useful for establishing identity, if blood group is known.
• We can also obtain material for blood grouping from cancellous bone.
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