Forensic Anthropology

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Forensic pathologists are trained to analyze soft
tissue and organs. Their experience with hard
tissue (bone) is limited.

Forensic anthropologist specializes in hard tissue

morphology, structure and variability. In those
cases in which soft tissue has been degraded by
time, temperature, environment or other external
forces, the only tissue remaining more or less
intact is bone.

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 Anthropology

Anthropometry

Craniometry

Osteometry

Anthroscopy

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 Role of the Forensic Anthropologist:

• Combining the scientific techniques of

anthropology with the investigative
strategies of forensics to identify
missing person remains and solve
crimes.
• What information would help you to
describe and identify a missing
person?
– Age
– Ethnicity
– Gender
– Height
– Weight
– Build
– Pathologies like old injuries

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 What is to be determined..??
• Are the remains human or animal? (butchers remains and skeletal remains of
dead pets etc. may be found in unlikely places)
• Are they really bones? (wood, stones)
• Are they human?
• How many bodies?
• How long dead? recent or ancient (e.g. construction or digging at an old burial
site)
• What is the race of the individual?
• What is the sex of the individual?
• What is the age of the individual?
• What is the stature of the individual?
• What pathologies did the individual have?
• What traumas did the individual have?
• What individual traits did the individual have?
• Cause of death?

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Anthropologists can help:

1. Find small bones or bone

fragments

2. Recover clothing and trace

materials associated with bones

3. Prevent damage of bones

4. Map the location of bones and

maintain chain of custody

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Identifying the remains

• Age - look at bone length and bone fusion

• Sex - differences in pelvis, skull, femur
• Stature - size of bones
• Ancestry - teeth, skull
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Forensic Anthropology

Identifying the remains

Individuality may be determined:

 from surgical procedures
 from broken bones
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Determining Time of Death

 Anthropologist helpful if soft tissues have

decomposed.
 If soft tissue is present, identification can be done
by the pathologist.
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Determining Cause of Death

 Sharp force trauma (bone cut)

 Blunt force trauma (broken bone)
 Antemortem vs. postmortem breaks
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Forensic Anthropology

Final Report Should Include:

 Taphonomy (time of death)
 Biological profile (age, sex, stature, race)
 Individual characteristics
 Evidence of possible cause of death

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 ANTHROPOLOGY

Study of humans – holistic view

5 subdisciplines:

1. Biological, or physical anthropology

2. Archaeology

3. Cultural anthropology
4. Linguistics
5. Applied anthropology

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 Why Study Bones?
• They constitute the evidence for the study of fossil man.

• They are the basis of racial classification in prehistory.

• They are the means of biological comparison of prehistoric

peoples with the present living descendents.

• They bear witness to burial patterns and thus give evidence

for the culture and world view of the people studied.

• They form the major source of information on ancient

diseases and often give clues as to the causes of death.

• Their identification often helps solve forensic cases.

02/16/2022 From: "Human Osteology - Asaurabh bhargava and Field Manual" 3rd Edition, 198713
Laboratory
 Cranium
Directions:
Identify the bones in the Cervical Vertebrae
Clavicle
skeleton. One label will
Sternum
be used twice! Scapula

Humerus Ribs
Ulna Lumbar Vertebrae

Radius Ilium

Carpals
Ishium
Metacarpals
Phalanges Femur
Sacrum
Patella

Tibia

Fibula

Tarsals
Metatarsals
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Phalanges
 Consulting Cases
Goal: Biological Profile

Includes:
1. General Description
2. Sex of decedent
3. Age of decedent
4. Ancestry of decedent
5. Stature of decedent
6. Assessment of trauma (ante-, peri-, post mortem)
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7. Pathologies notedsaurabh bhargava 15
 What Can We Learn?
• Determination of Sex
– Pelvis
– Skull
• Determination of Race
– Skull
• Approximate Age
– Growth of long bones
• Approximate Stature
– Length of long bones
• Postmortem or antimortem injuries
• Postmortem interval (time of death)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_anthropology
 What bones show
a. How person lived
b.Debilitation illnesses (rickets, polio, healed fractures)
c. Right handed or left handed
d. Clues to occupation
e. Profession
f. Number of children
g. Diet nutrition
h. Injuries
i. Diseases
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 Race

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Cartilage is darker on xray than
solid bone. Epiphyses aren’t fused
yet.
No cartilage visible. Epiphyses are
fused.

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 Determination of Sex
• Pelvis is the best bones (differences due to adaptations to
childbirth)

1. females have wider subpubic angle

2. females have a sciatic notch > 90°
3. females have a broad pelvic inlet

2. 2.
3. 3.

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1. 20
 Laboratory Tests Can Help

• Immunological reaction between bone extract and antihuman serum

ceases within months of death.

• If blood pigments are present bones are usually less than 10 years old.

• Up to 20 amino acids may be identified in bones less than a century old.

• Fluorescence of freshly sawn bone surface under UV light diminishes after

100 years.

• New bones contain 4.0 - 4.5 gms% nitrogen; 2.5 gms% indicates
approximately 350 years.

• Radioactive carbon dating indicates which century.

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 Diseases: PALEOPATHOLOGY
• CONGENTIAL DEFECTS
• INFECTIONS
• TOXINS
• TRAUMA
• DIET / METABOLIC disorders
• ENDOCRINE DISORDERS
• NEOPLASMS
• BIOMECHANICS (plasticity)

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 DIET / METABOLIC disorders
• Rickets (Vit-D
deficiency)
• Osteoporosis (low done
density)
• •Acute Anemia (low
iron, RBCs)

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 • Pearl was a female who died in her early forties
approximately three hundred years ago.

• She was Caucasian, of European ancestry and

stood about5'1".

• Her dental health was extremely poor and she

had lost 63 percent of her teeth prior to death.
She had no teeth on either side of her jaw. This
was most important as the loss of those teeth
would evidence themselves in the final
reconstruction as sunken cheeks. Of her
remaining teeth, the condition was poor and
she had several abscesses.

• During her lifetime, there are indicators that she

also suffered from acute infections, rickets,
sinusitis, an upper respiratory infection,
arthritis, and gout.

• Whew!! all this in an era when aspirin didn't

exist!

• On the other hand, it was determined that she

was very muscular, as the ridges on her long
bones were very developed.

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Quick Quiz – Give the common name for each bone.
I should have known it was going to be one of those
days, when I had stepped out of bed and stubbed
1. TOES
my (1) PHLANGE on the night stand. While hopping 2. FOOT
up and down on one (2) METATARSAL and grasping
3. COLLAR BONE
the other, I slipped and fell onto my right shoulder
breaking my (3) CLAVICLE. As I crawled on my 4. HANDS
(4) METACARPALS and (5) PATELLAS to my bed, I felt 5. KNEES
my (6) CRANIUM begin to ache. I found my phone
and let my (7) PHLANGES do the walking as I called 6. SKULL or HEAD
my friend to come help me out. My friend answered 7. FINGERS
the phone with a loud scream; my (8) MANDIBLE
dropped, I asked what had happened, and he replied 8. LOWER JAW
that he had been startled by the ringing phone, fell 9. TAIL BONE
out of bed landed on his (9) COCCYX. Following that
while racing to the phone he hit his (10) TIBIA on a 10. SHIN
stool. I should have known it was going to be one of
those days.

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Source: http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~mtpbs/Education/NTTILessonPlans2/LegBoneConnectedToThe/NTTILegBoneConnectedToThe.pdf 25
 Bone Challenge
The Challenge … How fast can you put together a skeleton?

Directions:
1 - Find a partner and get a set of bones, blindfold, and timer from your teacher.

2 – Put on a blindfold and then have your partner spread out the “bones” on the
table in front of you.

3 – When your partner starts the timer and says “go”, follow his/her directions to
put the skeleton back together.

4 – Record your time on your worksheet.

Who had the best time? _____________________

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