Forensic Anthropology - River Dell Regional School District

January 13, 2018 | Author: Anonymous | Category: Social Science, Anthropology, Biological Anthropology
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SUPA FS CHEM 113 J. Pawlowski, Adjunct Professor FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Forensic anthropologists study and examine human skeletal remains.

RECOVERY  For historical significance  To identify an individual

or groups of individuals

New technologies  Ground Penetrating Radar GPR  Show patterns of density  Scientific knowledge to

identify  Keep bones intact as found  No disruption of how bones are lain in ground  NOT good for urban environments

Proton Magnetometer  Shows variations in bone emissions of

electromagnetic energy  Technical knowledge of energies needed; very specific  Must know differences in soil to begin recovery

 Articulation of bones may indicate decomposition  IN fires, bones fragment with heat  In specific designs can look like cinders  Knowledge of anthropologist needed!

Is it human?  Human bone is layered, (growth patterns)

circumferential  Microscopic examination reveals;  Osteomes are circular random patterns Random patterns seen in primates

DNA analysis or Electon Microscopy  When fragments too small to reveal patterns  Oddities and similarities;  Bear hand  Sea turtle femur  Microcephaly

Organic Analysis  Histological evidence along with structural

differences and spectral specificity are tied to particular elements and proportion of elements in bone.  Standard samples of bone and teeth established!

Age of death  Arthritic vertebrae; spiny joint/terminal regions- old  Young no spines  Teeth: crown and root development for adults  Are primary teeth present?  1st molar; 6 yrs

2nd molar 12 yrs  Bone loss in mature adults

Teeth and Jaws  Adult: Secondary teeth erupted  Third molars erupted or fully formed in jaw  Teen or child may have primary teeth remaining or

secondary teeth with a sprinkling of primary teeth.  Teeth may reveal health; limits of lifestyle

 Translucence of root increases with age

VERY interesting….  Bones found in remains from birthdate 1950 and

earlier have less Carbon 14 in bone than remains from birthdate post-1950  Nuclear age even varies content and quality of

remains!  Data correlated on the Bomb Curve Intersect!

 To determine manner of death  To determine legal responsibility

 Bones experience slow decay and

decomposition of the skeletal components & yield evidence after centuries of exposure to the elements. 

Bones reveal origin, sex, age, race and skeletal scarring and injury.

Tuberculosis history…  Fungal disease shows alteration on

skeletal tissue  Cavitation- bone loss/wearing  Metal plate tracing!  Implanted metal plates are

imprinted with company insignia and can identify individual!  Facial reconstruction all computerized now; excellent for

exclusion

Ante or Post Mortem ?  Or peri mortem?  Healings of bone continues… ante  Animal chewing marks- rounded if animal  Sharp if weapon/knife or saw  Case: State of FL vs. Baglioni 1978- Disney World

abduction; psychic aided in investigation; body found; corrugated pubic symphysis; gun shot wound

Why need for FA? •L O N G B U R I E D O R N O T •F I R E •E X P L O S I O N •C R A S H E S / A C C I D E N T S •A N C I E N T O R H I S T O R I C A L

•M U L T I P L E B O D I E S / M A S S

GRAVE •W A R V I C T I M S

The Big 4  Forensic anthropologists attempt to answer the

questions; 1. What sex? 2. What race?  (Caucasoid, Negroid, Mongoloid are the terms used for racial features) 3. Age 4. Stature

No skin please…  Flesh impedes the anthropological study

 Flesh bloats, discolors, and distorts original human

features  Bone reveals more information to identify remains than decayed flesh  Flesh may contain DNA useful for i.d.

Skull bones Each and every skull bone

is vital to determine the big 4 and other characteristics of an individual.

Human skull sex differences

 Female skull smaller than male  Gracile; smooth and streamlined  Brow ridges smooth, not pronounced  Orbit sockets; upper feature sharp,

steep edges  Female mouth narrower than male and chin pointed

Skull, cont’d  Male skull has heavier, thicker brow ridges  Less fine, not as steep, orbit sockets  Orbit sockets tend to be squarer than female  Less pointed chin; square jaw phenomenon  Occipital protruberance in male; absent in female

skull (occipital bone of skull in back of skull)

Skull Age  Child skull small; even teenage years  Size dependent on age  Lack of ossification of skull bones; young, non-

mature  Sutures on skull indicative of age  Non fused; open sutures  Adult skull has fused sutures, partially or entirely

Race and Skulls  Negroid vs. Caucasian Skull  Negroid:  Prognasthasism; jutting of maxilla and mandible  Test with pencil from nose to chin  If pencil touches teeth but not chin  Bone is denser; sheen and ivory color

 Nasal openings broader than Caucasoid skull  WHY?

Race and Skulls

 Mongoloids: shovel-shaped teeth  Concave like incisors/upper  Squared eye sockets  Zygomatic arches are longer  May be shorter distance to orbital sockets

 Greater width between eyes from other 2 races

Race and Skulls  Caucasoid  Skull is orthognathic  Less jaw jut forward  Pencil test would touch nose

to chin/jaws  Narrower nasal openings, why?

 Less dense bones, color varies

Long Bones And sex….  Hip  (ilium and ischium prior to

puberty)  Inominate bone after puberty  Femur (upper leg)  Humerus (upper arm)

Hips  Pre puberty: Ischium, Ilium and pubis  Post puberty: inonimate bone of hip:

flared ears of elephant?

Female: distinct changes with age/stages of development in hip bones. Male: hip bones do not vary/change in life stages

Hip differences of sexes

Female hip changes  Mature hip bone broadens  Pubic bone gets longer  All to accommodate childbirth  Pubis symphysis changes through life stages.  

 

Spongy, more brittle after 40 yrs or so. Corrugated- young ; smooth- mature Male pelvis narrow; pelvis to femur straight Differences in the way we walk? The hip swing of females so enjoyed by males!

Long bones

 How femur and humerus articulate

with joint bones determines right or left bone

NEED TO KNOW

Know major bones

of limbs; arms legs, hips, vertebrae, ribs, and sternum

Miscellaneous  Long bones reveal much about stature  Remember Bertillon? Anthropometry?  Height varies but proportions do not

 Extremities often missing in nature,

why?

Cases and readings with FA  The Sea Will Tell, by Vincent Bugliosi  Buck Dwayne Walker convicted of double murder  Dr. Bill Bass, Anthropologist, U of Tennessee wrote  Death’s Acre,Runs the Anthropological Institute

(body farm)  Bones, by Douglas Ublecker  Patricia Cornwall, Body Farm

For you to do… Research what Mildred Trotter

and Goldine Gleser studied. What contribution did they

make to forensic anthropology?

What you will do….

Find three comprehensive FA

websites. Case study on a case involving FA! The Body Farm Dr. Bill Bass, U of Tennessee, Anthropology Dept.

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