History of Forensic Anthropology - Lecture 1 Flashcards
How is the UK and the American different?
UK focuses more on archaeology.
America is where the legal and medical side comes in
How did Forensic Anthropology start in Europe? Who is responsible for it?
With Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer (1747 - 1801) recognizing in 1788 that fingerprints were unique to each person
What is Phrenology? Who discovered it and how is it important to the development of Forensic Anthropology?
It was discovered by Franz Joseph Gall in 1796 and was an attempt to determine someone’s mental state and whether they had criminal intentions by looking at the morphology of their skull. It was another step in the direction of Forensic Anthropology
What did Phrenology contribute to?
Racist ideologies, gender stereotyping, diagnosing mental issues and criminal tendencies.
When science first used in Forensic Anthropology? What scientific methods were used?
Turn of the 19th century in Europe.
Early toxicology
Furthering fingerprint analysis
Beginnings of blood typing and detection
What is toxicology?
Testing blood for certain things
Which author made Forensic Anthropology popular? With what series? Who inspired the character?
Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes. Doyle’s previous medical prof, Dr. Joseph Bell who encouraged Doyle to let the evidence lead to a conclusion.
What is Anthropometry? Who invented it? How did it contribute to Forensic Anthropology?
Anthropometry is a system of identification based on someone’s specific measurements. It was invented by the French cop, Alphonse Bertillon (1853 - 1914). It helped with the development of analyzing and recording identifying features of a person.
What else did Alphonse Bertillon do that contributed to Forensic Anthropology?
He standardized the mugshot in 1888 which helped with analyzing a person’s anthropometry.
Who is Juan Vucetich (1858 - 1925)? What are the two important things that he did?
Created first method of recording people’s fingerprints
Created the first fingerprint bureau in 1892
What was special about Vucetich’s fingerprint recording method?
It incorporated Anthropometry by identifying things like swirl patterns.
What are the dates for the Formative Period of Forensic Anthropology?
1800 - 1938
What are the dates for the Consolidation Period of Forensic Anthropology?
1939 - 1971
What are the dates for the Establishment Period in Forensic Anthropology?
1972 - 2006
What are the dates for the Expansion Period on Forensic Anthropology?
2007 - today
How many periods are there in Forensic Anthropology? Name them in order and their dates.
- Formative Period: 1800 - 1938
- Consolidation Period: 1939 - 1971
- Establishment Period: 1972 - 2006
- Expansion Period: 2007 - today
What type of careers studied Forensic Anthropology in the Formative Period in the US?
physicians, anatomists, and some physical anthropologists
Was there any training or standardized system during the Formative Period?
No. Understanding the difference in age and sex were done by physicians and such doing their own research and self teaching
Who was the founder of Forensic Anthropology in the US? What were his contributions?
- Thomas Dwight (1843-1911)
- Developed methods to estimate age, sex, and stature from skeletons
- Documented and published his findings in his book, “The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medical Study,” (1878) which was the first time an understanding of the skeleton was printed
Who created the first large collections of humans skeletons? When did he do it and how many does it have today? What was and is it used for?
- Thomas Wingate Todd
- in 1912 and it now contains over 3000 skeletons
- The skeletons are studied and helped create sex estimations focusing on the pelvis
Why is the 1912 collection of skeletons not as helpful in modern times?
- Because humans change and evolve over time
- Skeletons in stasis from over 100 years ago look different from skeletons now which will create out of date analysis
What are the two identifying factors of the Formative Period (1800-1938)
- was conducted by physicians, anatomists, and some physical anthropologists
- practitioners were either informally trained in identification of skeletal remains or self taught
What two things marked the beginning of the Consolidation Period (1939-1971)?
- beginning of WW2
- publication of “Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material” (1939)
Who wrote “Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material?”
Wilton Marion Krogman (1903-1987)
What was Wilton Marion Krogman interested in?
- Interested in dental anthropology
- Child growth and development
- Development of Forensic Anthropology as a discipline
How was WW2 and the Korean War important to Forensic Anthropology?
New methods were formed using unidentified dead and skeletal remains of fallen Japanese and Korean soldiers
What is the controversy with using the unidentified dead of WW2 and the Korean War in Forensic Anthropology?
Still housed in Hawaii and won’t give the now identifiable skeletons back to their home countries and families.
What are the four key points that mark the Consolidation Period (1972-2006)
- Forensic Anthropology became more professionalized
- Creation of the Physical Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972
- American Board of Forensic Anthropology established in 1977
- T. Dale Stewart wrote “Essentials of Forensic Anthropology” (1979)
How did Forensic Anthropology become more professionalized in the Consolidation Period (1972-2006)?
- new courses and departments and standardized teaching
- now a position of a professional forensic anthropologist
What did “Essentials of Forensic Anthropology” (1979) focus on? How was it centralized in the US?
- focused on characteristics of death (especially gun shots) and how a body would break down in different US climates
- centralized in the US because it wrote about how bodies would break down in US climates
What is a body farm and why are they important in Forensic Anthropology?
Institutions that people can donate their bodies to to be studied and used for research
Who created the first body farm? When? Where is it?
- William M. Bass (1929-)
- 1981
- Knoxville, Texas
What is another important aspect of Forensic Anthropology that began to be implemented in the Consolidation Period?
To investigate cases of genocide and look at mass graves.
What were Clyde C. Snow’s contributions to Forensic Anthropology?
- Developed the Forensic Anthropology protocol used today
- Worked with Argentinian human rights groups documenting and exhuming mass graves
- Created the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team in 1991
- Involved in identifying bodies in the Bosnia and Herzegovina genocide in the 90’s
How many cases of genocide happen every 1.4 years?
1
Between 1956 to 2016 how many people were murdered due to genocide?
50 million
What are the criteria for something to be considered a genocide?
- killing members of the group
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
- forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
What are the key points in the Expansion Period (2007-)?
- expansion in science within Forensic Anthropology
- formation for the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology in 2008
- recognized the need for standardization
What are the purposes of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology?
- to standardize and identify the best forensic anthropological methods
- to make a common standardization and share practices with all forensic anthropology communities
What types of jobs can a forensic anthropologist have?
- lab management
- crime scene documentation
- missing persons administration
- quality assurance
- forensic project management
Who is Amy Mundorff? What university is she at?
- she worked on the 9/11 disaster in identifying remains like eviscerated bone
- got forensic anthropology to extend to dealing with natural and non natural disasters
- University of Knoxvile
When was the Canadian Society of Forensic Science established?
1953
What are the two different systems in Canada? What do they do?
- Coroner: - conduct much of the death inquiries in Canada
- do not require medical training (except Ontario)
- trained death investigators - Medical Examiner (ME): - system in Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland
What is different about Forensic Anthropology in Canada?
- the job is largely taken up by other death investigation agencies
- no specific degree for Forensic Anthropology
Who is Tracy Rogers?
At U of T and was the head of the Robert “Willy” Picton investigation in 2002/03
Is Forensic Anthropology a profession in Canada?
No, it is a subsidiary of Forensic Biology
