Forensic Anthropology Flashcards
forensic anthropology
study of human skeletal remains associated with events that are likely to lead to criminal proceedings
5 major objectives of forensic anthroplogy
- locating and recovering remains
- interpret trauma
- positive identification
- ancestry, age, biology sex, height
- postmortem interval
recovering crime scene excavation
- getting remains from ground
- very slow problems
how to determine the number of individuals
- look at bones
- look at numbers for left and right femurs
differences of human and animal bone
- human bone is more porous
- human cortical bone typically is a smaller proportion of the diameter
- humans have more trabecular bone
osteon banding in humans vs animals
- human osteon banding is circular
- animal osteon banding is linear
positive body identification
- xray
- medical condition
- DNA
- dentition
determination of sex
- consider multiple features
- more obvious in adult skeletal remains
best bones to determine sex
pelvis
second best bone to determine sex
skull
male skull vs female skull
- male skull is larger, heavier
- large areas for muscle attachments
determination of age from bones: age 0-5
teeth are best (forensic odontology)
determination of age from bones: ages 6-25
epiphyseal fusion
epiphyseal fusion
fusion of bone ends to bone shaft
determination of age from bones: ages 25-40
very hard
determination of age from bones: 40+
- periodontal disease
- arthritis
- breakdown of pelvis
- occupational stress
primary teeth
- whiter crown color
- smaller overall size
- prominent cervical ridge
- narrower roots
permanent teeth
- yellower crown color
- larger overall size
- wider roots
hyaline cartilage
smooth surface for joints
compact bone
very strong bone
cancellous bone
where new cartilage is made and where red marrow is found
epiphyseal plate
where new cartilage turns to bone
medullary cavity
where the yellow fatty marrow is stored
how is the epiphyseal line is formed
when bones cease growing, the cartilage is replaced by bone
why don’t bones grind at the joints?
articulating cartilage is found between the bones
age of someone with an open Basilar suture
< 18
estimating postmortem interval: stage 0
- tissue
- greasy
- no cracking
estimating postmortem interval: stage 1
cracking parallel to fiber structure
estimating postmortem interval: stage 2
outermost layers show flaking
estimating postmortem interval: stage 3
bone is finely rough after outmost layers are gone
estimating postmortem interval: stage 4
bone is largely rough and bone splinters
estimating postmortem interval: stage 5
bone falling apart and very fragile
examples of environmental reconstruction
- barnacles adhering to bone
- green algae stained bone
