NEW Final Flashcards by Emma Todhunter

Many animal bones are the same size as young children and morphologically similar to human bones. Nonhuman bones can be distinguished from human infants and children by osteological maturity. Fully mature small bones are nonhuman, because they would not be mature in human children

Maturity in human vs nonhuman

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Differentiating between human and nonhuman bones of equal size is difficult. Similar anatomy and a diverse number of animals, hoofed, felines, and dogs.

Architectural differences

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Prominent braincase, lack of snout, small teeth.

Human cranial skeleton

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Not fully protected eye sockets. Zygomatic arch oriented differently. Larger snout, bigger teeth. Difference in nasal bones. Oriented horizontally

Nonhuman cranial skeleton

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Vertebral column very different in thoracic and cervical, but not lumbar. Os coxae much longer, scapula’s glenoid fossa more restricted. Ribcage similar

Axial skeleton nonhuman

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Forelimbs and hind limbs instead of arms and legs. Humerus has different proportions. Femur different curvature

Nonhuman appendicular skeleton

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Metacarpal bones of quadrupeds. Different bones than humans, looks like long bones. Diagnostic ends to them. Hind bones in cats

Metapodials

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Refers tot he visible and measurable characteristics of the bones. What do they look like? Fresh or old bones

State of preservation

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State of preservation, fresh bone is yellowish-white. After stout tissue decomposes, takes on a whitish color. Bone can also bleach, discolor due to soil. Generally takes a number of years for these color changes to occur

Color

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Color in state of preservation, greasy and smooth appearance. Some soft tissue

Modern faunal bone

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Color in state of preservation, whiter, no soft tissue.

Non contemporary bone

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State of preservation, recent bone is smooth like ivory. The longer the bone is exposed to the elements, bone becomes more grainy and pitted. Age of individual at death can also affect smoothness

Texture

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State of preservation, body fluids give bone yellowish color and greasy feel while in body. Non contemporary bones will appear dry and porous because water evaporates over time

Hydration

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State of preservation. Recent bones tend to be heavy because of fats and fluids.

Weight

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Weight state of preservation. Loss of calcium and other minerals occurs over time. Results in bones feeling lighter

Decalcification

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State of preservation, contemporary bones tend to be whole with little fragmentation. Non contemporary tend to be semi to highly fragmented.

Condition

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State of preservation, contemporary bones are strong and tough. Non contemporary appear breakable

Fragility

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State of preservation, non contemporary dark, rough, dry, light, broken, fragile, absent. Contemporary light, smooth, wet, heavy, solid, tough, present

Decision table

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Common forms of non contemporary types are cranial modification and dental modification

Body modifications

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Body modification. Purposeful reshaping of the skull, anteroposterior modification. Soon after birth, skull is bound

Cranial modification

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Carved teeth, drilled with gems. Body modification

Dental modification

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Fillings, prosthetics.

Contemporary body modification

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Item found alongside burial can provide important clues. Like the ice man, thought to be a modern hiker until clothes were dated to 3400 BCE

Personal belongings

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People who have died under normal circumstances have a formal burial. In forensic cases, bodies are disposed of without care. Tightly flexed vs semi flexed vs extended

Conditions of internment

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If something is below the ground. Detectors, dogs. Locating remains

Subsurface techniques

Sometimes we can see things from above better. Drone, helicopter. Locating remains

Aerial techniques

Group of searchers systematically walk the landscape for clues. Emphasis placed on locating skeletal materials. Line up six feet apart, walk in a particular direction swiveling head back and forth, flag anything significant. Locating remains

Ground search

Scatter of body parts is critical to reconstructing

Mapping remains

Time of death with mapping remains

Carnivore activity

Cause is what killed them, manner is what ultimately makes the heart stop beating

Cause and manner of death

A fixed starting point of scale or operation. Permanent structure, boulders, trees. Mapping remains

Datum

A square constructed on four wooden posts and string, usually oriented to cardinal direction. Mapping remains

Grid square

Taking the soil and putting it through a screen to sift. Looking for fragments, teeth, fabric, etc. Excavation

Screening

Mixed up soil, not naturally formed. May be evidence above the body. Excavation

Stratigraphy

Everything must be labeled. History of who handled the remains must be kept. Chain of custody. Record detailing recovery process.

Collection and transport of remains

From date, time, and weather, to participants and any other relevant info.

Record detailing recovery process

Separate right and left upper limbs and lower limbs and bag separately. vertebrae can be labeled with pencil and types bagged separately. Skull should be handled by brain case. Keep unfused epiphyses with associated bones. Watch for fetal bones, sesamoid bones, small objects.

For disarticulated remains

The degeneration of body tissues by the digestive fluids normally residing in the intestinal track

Autolysis

Microorganisms residing in body tissue begin to break down biological components. Eat away at soft tissue, side effect is the release of gasses that bloat the body. Flies are attracted to the body and deposit eggs. Also body at this state attracts large animals

Putrefaction

Temperature, humidity, accessibility. Trauma and placement are key

Environment

Estimated by knowing the time needed by the body to reach stages of deterioration from fresh to fully skeletonized

Postmortem interval

Large range of variation in time to reach various stages of decomposition. Most schedules of decomposition are based on surface finds. Descriptions of changes are drawn from all times of year

Climatic factors

By knowing the amount of time needed for scavenging to occur on human samples from known forensic ashes, time since death can be estimated

Animal scavenging

The study of insects as related to the medico-legal investigation of death. Observation of different life stages of attendant insects. Seasonal information

Forensic entomology

Studying the decay rate of non biological materials to estimate PMI

Deterioration of clothing and other materials

On average, men are larger and more robust than females. Pelvic morphology reflects need for childbearing.

Size and architecture

When using pelvis, skull, and long bones, accuracy ranges from 90-100%. 90-95 when just pelvis, 80-90 for skull, 80 when long bones

Accuracy

Overall wider and lower than male pelvis. Pelvis inlet is circular or elliptical in females. female sacrum is short and broad

Female pelvis

Taller and narrower than the female pelvis. Inlet is heart shaped in males. Male sacrum is long and narrow

Male pelvis

At the pubic symphysis of the os coxae. Inferior and anterior. Extra ridge of bone almost as if the bone next to the pubic symphysis has been ripped. Present in females

Ventral arc

Anterior, inferior. Shape of angle obtuse for female and acute for male

Subpubic concavity

Where the two parts of os coxae one together. Sharp and thin in females, rounded and thick in males.

Ischiopubic ramus ridge

Degree to which the sulcus is present, inferior to auricular surface.

Preauricular surface

Wider and greater in females, narrow in males.

Sciatic notch

How thick, wide, and down? Robust in males

Mastoidal process

More robust and projected in males, delicate in females

Nuchal crest

Narrow and sharp in females, rounded and thick in males

Supraorbital margin

Degree to which the bone is pronounced right above the nose. Flat in females, projected in males

Glabella

More pronounced, robust, squarer chins than females.

Mental eminence

Epiphyseal union, union of primary ossification centers, dental eruption

Age estimation

Degenerative markers, pubic symphysis, auricular surface, cranial suture closure, dental wear, Premortem tooth loss, osteoarthritis

Mature remains

Arms, legs, toes, hands all begin with a primary ossification center/diaphysis. Epiphysis and diaphysis have a growth plate in between

Long bones in juveniles

Pelvis, vertebrae. Os coxae form from three individual bones and fuse together over childhood. Same idea for body and centrum in vertebrae

Union of primary ossification centers in juveniles

Most develop primary and permanent teeth at the same time

Dental eruption in juveniles

Changes to the pubic symphyseal face, a lot of age related changes. Smooth versus porous. Todd estimation versus suchey brooks estimation

Pubic symphysis in adults

Ear shaped surface that articulates os coxae with sacrum. Change to the freshness of bone over time. Subtle, younger persons is puffy

Auricular surface of the ilium

Open with no evidence of closure (0) versus complete fusion (3)

Cranial suture closure

Only works if you compare people from the same population, diets, class, etc

premortem tooth loss and dental decay

Cartilage begins to wear away

Osteoarthritis

White, black, Asian, Native American, Hispanic

Law enforcement racial groupings

A standard for methodology submitted in a court of law. has the technique been tested, subjected to peer review, known error rate, standards, acceptance

Daubert standard

The traits we use to estimate ancestry are best observed in mature adults with the exception of teeth. Most are based on skull

Ancestry in a medico legal context

Visual differences, continuous, qualitative. Based on skull, qualitative assessments, only really info for white, black, Asian

Anthroposopy

Measurable differences, discreet, quantitative

Osteometry

Root, bridge, spine, lower border, nasal opening

The nose

Jaws vary by ancestral group with blacks having larger jaws than whites or Asians. In white and black, face tends to be narrow while Asians tends to be wide. Whites angular eye orbits, blacks rectangular, Asians round. Asians have a projecting lower border of the eye

The face

Whites tend to have well developed brow ridges and muscle markings. Complex sutral lines in Asians. Blacks have slight concavity in their profile at Bergman area is flat or relatively convex in whites and Asians .

The vault

Shovel faced in Asian and native Americans, spatulate in whites and blacks. rounded dental arch in Asians, hyperbolic black, parabolic white.

Teeth

Results tend to be significantly less reliable than skull. Blacks tend to have straight femurs, whites and Asians curve anteriorly. Black postcranial skeletons tend to be gracile, whites robust

Postcranial skeleton

Disease

Pathology

New bone forming, porous. Much more recent

Woven bone

Woven bone done healing, same color as woven bone, indication of bone being injured once and healing. Irregular and heavy

Lamellar bone

Single lesion, multiple lesions, location of lesions. Diseases like cancer. If edges are sharp, recent, if round, healing.

Bone destruction

Shape of bone can be affected by disease, more bowed due to weakness

Vitamin D deficiency

Malnourished child can disrupt teeth formation and create pits/lines. lesions in orbital eye socket, thin porosity. childhood diseases but signs retained in adulthood

Signs of stress.

Spurs around margins to prop vertebrae up. osteocytes (spurs) can get so big that vertebrae fuse together. Similar in long bones

Joint disease

Prior to death. Well healed, can be hard to make out

Antemortem

Around time of death. Edges ragged

Perimortem

After death, fractured edges are colored from bone, shininess showing inflicted when bone was still fresh

Postmortem

Lesions result of overactive osteoclastic activity and under active osteoblastic activity

Cancerous lesions

Markers of arrested enamel growth due to poor nutrition or disease, lines on teeth

Dental hypoplasia

Porosity on superior part of eye orbits just beneath brow ridge. Expansion of bone marrow caused by iron deficiency or parasitic infection. Most live through it and lesions are still present in adulthood

Cribra orbitalia

Creates new bones around edges to prevent bone on bone contact

Arthritis and disc degeneration

Dental caries (tooth decay), bacterium metabolizes sugar, producing acid which erodes enamel and dentine

Dental disease

Gaps can still be present, but healed with no sharp edges. Could be in the process of healing. Can be visible, some parts of the injury remodeled but some sharp edges still present. Fracture smoothly healed over

Antemortem fractures

Porosity near the breaks as opposed to smooth cortical bone. Rounding of edges of the break. Callus present

Antemortem trauma

Irregular shape, disorganized surface, raised above surrounding area. Sign of antemortem trauma

Callus

An injury caused to living tissue by an outside force. Bludgeons, projectiles, cutting, or chopping instruments. Large objects, chemicals, heat/cold

Trauma

What factors lead to death? Forensic anthropologists evaluate trauma to the bone as a potential cause of death. Consistent with a certain cause of death

Cause of death

The way a person died. Homicide, suicide, accident, natural, unknown

Manner of death

Discontinuity, surfaces that were once continuous no longer meet or meet at an angle

Displacement

Discontinuity, usually originate near the point of impact where they help to dissipate the impact across bone surface. Radiating lines (outward) vs hoop lines (rings)

Fracture lines

Healing, pool of blood that helps stabilize bone after break

Hematoma

Force that pulls on a bone, usually along the long axis. Horizontal fracture. Direction

Tension

Force that pushes down on bone. Diagonal fracture. Direction

Compression

Force that impacts the side of the bone at a right angle to its long axis. Direction. Butterfly fracture

Bending

Force that results in one end of the bone being held stationary while the other end is twisted. Spiral. Direction

Torsion

Sudden impact or slow build up. Dynamic (fast) vs static (slow)

Speed

Any injury caused by a force that has a wide area of impact on bone. Usually the result of compression or bending. Usually exhibits both discontinuities and fracture lines

Blunt force trauma

Trauma caused by sharp edged instruments, usually the result of compression

Sharp force trauma

Results from impact with an object that travels through air that impacts with enough energy. Bullet, arrows, spears

Projectile trauma

Any evidence of bone healing. Porosity near the breaks as opposed to smooth cortical bone. Rounding of edges. Callus present

Antemortem trauma

Sharp edges, both of broken bone surface and fracture lines. Hinging. Formation of fracture lines and no healing, angled and jagged broken ends.

Perimortem trauma

Dry bone rarely exhibits fracture lines. Likely to snap at right angles. No evidence of healing. Color of break is usually different than rest of bone

Postmortem trauma