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Chapter 14Human Remains
206 BONE
S
Forensic Anthropology
Identifies skeletalRemains where bones are the only evidence
Responsibilities
Assist in investigation of crimes
Examine and analyze human remains
Skills used to…
Recover individuals from crime scene
Reconstruct remains to analyze effects of trauma
Identify human remains
…when conventional methods cannot be used
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOG
YRemains human?Single individual or several?When did death occur?Was the body disturbed post-mortem?Gender, race, age?Cause of death?Type of death?Signs of disease, old injuries?Height, weight, physique estimated?
Functions of the Skeleton:
Internal structure and support
Protection of vital organs
Attachment for muscles
Make blood cells
Storage of minerals
Types of bones:
Long
Short
Flat
Irregular
***Most accurate if body is found within 24 hours of death
A. Algor mortis; cooling of the body after death
Body cools at approx. 1-1.5 degrees per hour until environmental temp is reached.
Researcher must consider factors such as…
Environmental temp.Type of clothingIs clothing wet? (aids cooling)Air movement (aids cooling)Layers of clothing (prevents
cooling)Surface area/body mass ratio(small bodies will cool more
quickly)
Glaister formula gives hours elapsed:
98.4 – internal temp________________
1.5
1. Determining time of death
B. Livor mortis; purple or red discoloration of the skin after death, caused by pooling of the blood due to gravity.
Begins .5 hr after death, most evident within 12 hr. After 12 hr discoloration will not move regardless of how the body is handled or moved.
Areas in contact with ground (or anything) show no discoloration because capillaries are compressed.
C. Rigor mortis; stiffness in skeletal muscles 2-3 hrs after death, lasting until ~30 hrs.
Smaller muscles first. Affected by temp, dehydration, condition of muscles, use prior to death, etc.
Osteology; the study of bonesOsteons;
2. Animal vs Human Bone
In animals, these osteons would occur in rows (osteon banding) or rectagular shapes (plexiform bone).
Sheep
tibia
HUMAN ANIMAL
3. Estimating Height…using long bones.
humerus
radius
femur
tibia
Since men and women have different proportions of long bone length to total body height, we have a different formula for each sex…
Height (cm)= femur x 2.21 + 61.41 femur x 2.23 +69.08
tibia x 2.53 + 72.57 tibia x 2.39 + 81.68
humerus x 3.14 + 64.97 humerus x 2.97 + 73.57
radius x 3.87 + 73.50 radius x 3.65 + 80.40
4. Sex Determination
Using the pelvis
These three bones fuse together to make the os coxa,or half of the pelvis.
Also, the ventral arc and
the width of the pubic body
Pg. 418 in text
…using the skull
Use page 421 to add other features
5. Age DeterminationEpiphyses; growth plates at the end of long bones that fuse to the bone during early adulthood. (pg 423 of text)
Using cranial sutures
Sagittal Suture closed: 26 or older 29 or older
Sagittal Suture completely open: Younger than 32Younger than 35
Using the os pubis
Furrows (youngest) SmoothBreakdown of
bone
6. Determining Race
1. Caucasoid; European, Middle Eastern, East Indian descent
2. Negroid; African, Aboriginal, Melanesian descent
3. Mongoloid; Asian, Native American, Polynesian descent
History of Forensic Anthropology
A. End of 19th centuryB. Dr. Thomas Dwight “Father of American
(1843-1911) Forensic Anthropology”
Dr. Thomas Dwight..
Looked at clues to ID a person from bones
Other leading forensic anthropologists Dr. George Dorsey
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
1868-1931
LUETGERT CASE
Dr. T.D. Stewart Curator from the
Smithsonian Institute
Helped ID casualties from WWII and
the Korean War
CILHI
Central Identification Laboratory in
Hawaii
1. Responsibility
Identify and repatriate American soldiers
2. How remains are analyzed..
Teams travel to field locations
Statistical methods are used
To differentiate remains from those of
the native population
The remains are taken to CILHI
Where a biological profile is created
and compared to a database
Multidisciplinary approach
TEAM APPROACH
Forensic Pathology
Determines cause and manner of death by autopsy
