Forensics Unit 6: Forensic Anthropology

forensic anthropology

the use of skeletal anatomy to identify remains and provide information about a victim

forensic anthropologists

responsible for examining and identifying remains

• works with detectives, CSI, pathologists, chemists, toxicologists, entomologists (bugs), and odontologists (teeth)

biological profile

using remains to identify age, sex, stature, trauma, disease, ethnicity

• can also use dental records, implants, DNA

• compared to missing person from the area or expanded to a wider radius

Framework

determine physical appearance, protect organs, store calcium, attachment sites for muscle, support

• works with muscles, tendons, and ligaments to provide movement

• hard due to calcium phosphate

cartiledge

found between bones as padding and protection

calcium phosphate

makes up most of the bone

bone marrow

found in the center of the bone

yellow bone marrow

fat storage

red bone marrow

produces red blood cells

growth plate

area of cartilage that allows bones to lengthen

• turns to bones when a person is fully grown, thin line remains after development

How many bones are in the body

206 (adult), close to 300 in a child

ossification

development of cartilage into bone (bones begin as cartilage in development)

When will bones fully ossify?

19/20 males, 16/17 females

geography

clues to where a person lived

• can be found by the isotopes of carbon and strontium in the bones tissue

Where is strontium found?

ground water

What is the best indicator to differentiate between male and female?

pelvis (hips)

What is deposited into bones and teeth to give clues about where a person lived?

strontium

What is everything that forensic anthropologists can learn from bones?

• age

• sex

• height

• ethnicity

• record of past injuries. lifestyle, diseases

• injuries at time of death

• **estimation of time since death

determining age

can be determined using skeletal remains and teeth

• using the wear or tear on bone as well as stages of ossification

What will anthropologists use to determine age?

• # of bones

• absence/presence of growth plates

• degree of ossification

tooth eruption

teeth coming out of the jaw

• compares teeth that are present, have erupted, or have fallen out help estimate age

sutures

fusion of bones of the skull (joints of the skull)

• forms as you age

• fully fused by the age of 60

Which bones will progressively get smoother as the person ages?

pubic bones (pelvis)

• 4th rib of the sternum

What is a baby’s skeleton mostly made out of?

cartiledge

epiphyseal plate

a layer of cartiledge at the ends of long bones in children and adolesecents

• responsible for longitudinal bone growth

How can tooth eruption be used to determine age?

by comparing present teeth that have erupted/fallen out

What age do baby teeth begin to fall out?

6

What age does a child have all their adult teeth?

12

What age do the 3rd molars begin growing in?

17-25

What age does a person have all of their adult teeth?

25

female skeleton

• slender skeleton

• high, rounded frontal bone

• rounded orbital

• mandibular angle (greater than 90)

• lack of occipital protruberance

• wider set hips (subpubic angle greater than 90)

• oval pelvic cavity

• shorter, flatter, wider sacrum

• pelvis maybe scarred if birthed children

male skeleton

• more robust, thicker skeleton

• think sloping frontal bone

• square orbital

• mandibular angle close to 90

• large occipital protuberance

• narrow hips (subpubic angles less than 90)

• heart-shaped pelvic cavity

• longer, narrower, and curved sacrum and tailbone

estimating height

the measurement of bones like the bumerus and femur can help to estimate the height of skeletal remains

femur female equation

length in cm X 2.47 + 54.1

humerus female equation

length in cm X 3.08 + 64.67

femur male equation

length in cm X 2.32 + 65.53

humerus male equation

length in cm X 2.89 + 78.1

female skull characteristics

• pronounced brow ridge

• round chin

• snaller mostoid process

male skull characteristics

• small brow ridge

• square chin

• larger mastoid process

determining ancestry

scientists recognize 3 different ancestral groups from 3 different regions: Africa, Europe, Asia

• Others are a combination of traits of the 3 main groups

What do they use to determine ancestry?

• shape of eye sockets

• shape of the nasal cavity, presence of the nasal spine (sharp projection under the nasal cavity)

• nasal index

• prognathism

• shape of teeth

• shape of the palate (roof of the mouth)

nasal index

ration of width of the nasal opening to the height of the opening X 100

prognathism

projection of the upper jaw and/or lower jaw beyond the face

antemortem

before death, possibly years in advance

• will show signs of healing

perimortem

injury at the time of death, ot may be the cause of death

• will not show any healing and will be clean breaks

• may be defense wounds

postmortem

injuries that may have occurred after death, mostly caused by environmental factors

• brittle and will show jagged breaks

broken bones

when bones break while someone is alive, the breaks are more uneven due to the elascity of the bone

• bones will show signs of healing if a break happened during a lifetime

• malnuturtion, exposure to toxins or radiation can be seen in skeletal remains through the investigation