Anthropology Final Study

ventral

What is Macroscopic Analysis

It’s the examination of physical traits and skeletal remains with your eyes

What are the advantages of using Macroscopic instead of Osteometric Analysis

It’s quick, and no specialized equipment is needed

What are the disadvantages of using Macroscopic instead of Osteometric Analysis

It is subjective, and it’s dependent on examiner experience. No correct estimation for sizes

What is Osteometric Analysis

It’s the scientific measurement and quantitative analysis of human skeletal remains

What are the advantages of using Osteametric instead of Macroscopic Analysis

It’s Objective, Statical weight, reduces subjective bias

What are the disadvantages of using Osteometric instead of Macroscopic Analysis

It requires specialized tools and training; also requires full complete bones

What is Histology

It is the microscopic study of bone tissue, it is often used to examine bone at the cellular level when macroscopic features are missing or altered

What is the purpose of Histology

It is to differentiate human from non-human bones

When do you use the analytical technique such as Histology

When assessing microscopic remodeling to estimate age at death, analyzing burnt bone, and determining the timing of injuries

What is Radiography

It is when you use X-ray, CT scans or other imaging modalities to visualize internal bone structures without destroying the specimen/bone

What is the purpose of Radiography

To detect antemortem and perimortem trauma, such as fracturs, bullet fragments or disease

What are some criteria for distinguishing human vs non-human bones

The bone size, density, texture and thickness

How is a Contemporary Bone like

It is, fresh, greasy, light-colored(yellow-white), heavy, contains moisture and collagen within less than 50 years.

How is a Non-Contemporary Bone like

It is, dry, brittle, stained, and lightweight due to loss of collagen and moisture over time

What are the 3 main techniques for finding human remains

It is, detecting, mapping, and recovering

Describe the Detecting Technique for finding human remains

You use the Line Search method, where investigators stand shoulder to shoulder and walk in a straight line across an area to locate evidence of bones

What do you usually look for in a Line Search

Vegetation & Soil Changes

Describe the Recovering Technique for finding human remains

This where you assign tasks to people. (Recorder, Mapper, Photographers and Excavators) Then switch to hand tools when grave pit is clear and screen all the soil so you do not miss small bones, or loose teeth

What is a datum?

It is a fixed, permanent reference point, marker or structure at a crime scene from which all measurements and locations of evidence are taken

Describe the Mapping Technique for finding human remains

The spatial distribution of evidence must be recorded, creating a grid, and establishing a Datum

What is Forensic Taphonomy

It is the study of the processes that affect organisms between death and discovery

Why is Forensic Taphonomy studied

It is studied because it is used in forensics to reconstruct circumstances of death

What is the importance of Forensic Taphonomy

It is to Estimate Postmortem interval (PMI), interpreting postmortem events and treatment of remains, and distinguishing between taphonomy alteration and perimortem trauma

What is Autolysis

It is the destruction of cells through the action of their own internal enzymes. It occurs primarily in dead or injured tissues, acting as a crucial first step in decomposition.

What is Putrefaction

It is the fifth stage of death, where anaerobic bacteria and fungi decompose organic matter, breaking down proteins and liquefying tissues (skin)

What factors influence the decomposition of human remains (6)

Temperature, Moisture, Environment, Soil chemistry, perimortem trauma, scavenging

What are some characteristic signatures of Taphonomic Changes that must be distinguished from perimortem trauma?

Consumptions & modification of remains by animals

What type of animals causes changes in Forensic Taphonomy & How, (4)

Insects: They arrive quickly and in predictable pattern
Carnivores: Pits punctures, scoring, furrows affecting bones

Birds: Damage varies, often shallow scratches, targeting facial bones, Larger species can break ribs
Rodents: Small/Big scratches can be done

What do you look at to estimate Biological Sex in a person

Influenced by, Chromosomes, Genetics and Hormones

What do you look at to estimate Gender in a person

You look at one’s personal and social identity, gender is a social category, based on cultural norms

Why do we estimate sex rather than gender?

Because male/female are biological categories, men/women are products of enculturation

What is sexual dimorphism?

It is the phenotypic differences between males & females of the same specifies

What is the difference between biological and chronological age?

Chronological age is the amount of time that passes between birth and death
Biological age is the influence of intrinsic factors like genetics and extrinsic factors like nutrition, stress, environment, disease, and status

How do forensic anthropologists understand the concept of race?

Reject scientific racism and biological determinism, races are socially constructed categories that are based on differences in phenotypic traits

What are some complications involved in estimation of Stature?

Biological versus reported stature are often inconsistent

Age at death stature decreases with age

What factors produce individual skeletal variation ? (5)

Genes, age, activity, nutrition, disease

Why is recognizing individual variation important to forensic anthropologists?

It is important to distinguish from perimortem trauma to taphonomy

What is Nominal Variation

It refers to the study of differences in qualitative, categorical data that cannot be ranked or ordered. It is used to categorize individuals or cultural traits into distinct groups (eye color, blood type, martial status)

What is Skeletal Anomalies

It refers to the deviations from typical skeletal anatomy

(Non-fusion anomalies, supernumerary bones or teeth, accessory foramina)

What is Skeletal Pathologies

It’s the study of abnormal changes, diseases, and injuries manifested in human skeletal remains

What is Biochemical Stress

It is the physiological and molecular reactions (such as cortisol release) within the body when exposed to environmental, social, or nutritional pressures

What are the 5 outcomes of mechanical loading of the skeleton?

Compression (Squeezing force)

Tension (Stretching force)

Bending (Compression one side, tension on the other)

Shear (Slides portions of an object relative to one another)

Torsion (Both shear and twisting)

What is Antemortem Trauma

Before death, evidence of an osteogenic reaction (formation of new bone in response to injury, infection, or chronic stress)

What is Perimortem Trauma

Around the time of death, no osteogenic reaction, bone would be fresh

What is Postmortem Trauma

After death, Bone features are dried up, more brittle jagged appearance

Describe a Blunt Force Trauma

Such as a punch, fall, etc. Low-velocity impact over a large surface area
The bone is pushed inward and changes shape before breaking, leaving permanent warping.

Describe High-Velocity Projectile Trauma

Such as a bullet, Bone acts as a brittle material
Shatters rather than deforms, beveling takes place

What is Beveling, & what is Internal/External Beveling

Morphology of the void left behind by punched out piece of bone(from a bullet)
Internal Beveling = Entrance (Bigger Hole)
External Beveling = Exit (Smaller Hole)

Describe a Sharp Force Trauma

Such as a saw/knife, Deeper punctures, sometimes showing "hilt marks" (impression of the handle).
The bone can have microscopic parallel scratches within the cut, which can identify the type of tool

 An example of Forensic Anthropology contributions to Mass Disaster Response (3)

Sorting, Biological Profiling, & Trauma Analysis

An example of Forensic Anthropology contributions to Human Rights Violations

Exhuming Mass Graves: 

• Using archaeological techniques to map how bodies were placed, which can prove intent or execution-style killings.

Evidence of Torture: 

• Identifying healed or perimortem fractures that suggest systematic abuse before death.

What are some examples of factors that complicate the identification of undocumented migrants along the U.S. - Mexico Border?

Environmental Degradation: 

• Extreme heat and scavenging animals in the Sonoran Desert can skeletonize a body in days, destroying soft tissue and DNA.

Lack of Ante-Mortem Data: 

• Many migrants come from rural or impoverished areas where dental or medical records

What are some examples of methods used by forensic anthropologists to help identify migrant remains?

Isotope Analysis: 

• By analyzing oxygen and strontium isotopes in teeth and bones, scientists can determine the geological region where a person grew up

Cultural Artifact Analysis: 

• Anthropologists carefully document "personal effects" like distinct clothing brands, religious icons (rosaries), or phone numbers written on scraps of paper, which often provide more clues than the bones themselves.

What methods applied by forensic anthropologists contribute to a positive/scientific ID? (3)

DNA (Nuclear not mitochondrial)

Fingerprints 

Radiologic comparison 

What are some examples of skeletal features that are useful when deciding whether to include or exclude an individual as the source of unknown remains? (2)

Comparative Dental Radiography 

Radiological comparisons using non dental imaging 

Subpubic Concavity - Pelvis

Present = Female

Absent = Male
Subpubic Concavity

Ischiopubic Ramus - Pelvis

Narrow, Sharp - Female

Broad, Dull - Male

Sciatic Notch Morphology - Pelvis

Bigger and Wider - Female

Smaller and Thinner - Male

Ventral Arc - Pelvis

More square and fatter body - Female

Less square and less body - Male

Preauricular sulcus - Pelvis

Present - Female

Absent - Male

Nuchal Crest - Cranial

Smooth, no nuchal crest - Female

Bumpy, pointy nuchal crest - Male

Determine what is Male/Female

Mastoid Process - Cranial

Short, Small - Female

Long, Big - Male

Supra-Orbital Margin - Cranial

Thin, Sharp - Female

Thick, Dull - Male

Supra-Orbital Ridge - Cranial

Smooth, flat - Female

Massive, Dull - Male

Mental Eminence - Cranial

Smaller, V-shaped - Female

Bigger, Square Shaped - Male

How does a Pubic Symphysis look like in a young person

It has prominent ridges and furrows billowing is present

Superior and inferior extremities become delimited

How does the Pubic Symphysis look like in a Middle aged person

Remnants of billowing

Lower rim is complete on dorsal side

Oval outline is complete

How does the Pubic Symphysis look like in a Older person

Symphyseal face becomes depressed

Irregular in shape

Porosity is present

How does a Sternal Rib (4) end look like in a young person

Shallow pit depth

V-shaped pit

Thick walls

How does a Sternal Rib (4) end look like in a middle aged person

Pit depression

More U-shaped but not fully U-shaped

Thinner walls but not fully thin

How does a Sternal Rib (4) end look like in a older person

Depressed pit

U shaped pit

Extended, thing, irregular walls

In 1969, Phenice published on 3 traits useful in estimating sex

The Ventral Arc, Subpubic Concavity, Ischiopubic Ramus

Measuring the lengths of these can assist in the estimation of age at death in adults

Long Bone diaphysis

In Pubic Symphysis aging, this feature is usually fully separated from the symphyseal face by middle adult age

Pubic tubercle

This groove created by a saw or knife may preserve characteristics of the class of the implement

Kerf

This extrasutural bone is created when the division between two portions of the occipital bone does not disappear as normal

Inca Bone

Don’t mistake this hole in the sternum for a gunshot wound, it’s an anatomical variation

Sternal Foramen

The location, size and shape of this feature of the frontal bone is as unique as a fingerprint., its potent used in radiographic comparison

Frontal Sinus

This condition related to repetitive stress in the lower back is characterized by the separation of the neural arch from the vertebral body

spondylolysis

this type of defect is produced when a high velocity projectile impacts bone at a tangential angle

Keyhole

What is the Nasal Aperture Width (NAW)

The horizontal distance across the bony opening of the nose on the human skull

What is the Nasal Bone Contour (NBC)

The shape, profile, and structural outline of the bony bridge of the nose

What is the Anterior Nasal Spine (ANS)

The vertical distance between the Anterior Nasal spine and the top of your Nasal Bone

What is the Interorbital Breadth (IOB)

The straight-line distance between the medial margins of the eye sockets (orbits) of the skull

What is Inferior Nasal Aperture(INA)

Is the bottom-most boundary of the skull's pear-shaped nasal opening

What is post bregmatic depression (PBD)

It is is a normal, non-pathological anatomical variation of the human skull. It appears as a visible, shallow dip or indentation on the top of the head just behind the bregma

What is Triage & Sorting

Anthropologists separate commingled remains to ensure that families receive the correct individual

What is Biological Profiling

Anthropologists establish age, sex, ancestry and stature to narrow down missing persons list

What is Trauma Analysis

the study of injuries to living tissue—primarily bone—caused by external forces