1. Forensic Anthropology

2. Forensic Anthropology
study of human skeletal remains to determine sex, age, race, and time of death in an effort to identify an individual
“anthros” is Greek for humankind or man, logos means “the study of”

3. Determination of Sex
Pelvis best

4. Determination of Sex Pelvis best females have wider subpubic angle
females have a broad pelvic inlet

5. Determination of Sex Cranium second best
Crests and ridges more pronounced in males (A, B, C)
Chin significantly more square in males (E)
Jaw (I, E), mastoid process wide and robust in males
Forehead slopes more in males (F)

6. Determination of Sex
Other bones are not usually as good an indicator regarding sex

7. Determination of Race
The cranium is the only reliable bone and, even then, can only tell general category as below:
Asian decent and Native American decent
wider cheekbones, concave incisors,
width between eyes greatest
African decent and West Indian decent
more prominent ridges, wider nasal opening
Caucasian
narrow everything

8. White, Asian, African
From: Beyers, S.N. (2005). Introduction to Forensic Anthropology

9. Nasal Silling and Guttering

10. General Shapes of the Eye Orbits

11. epiphyseal fusion varies with sex and is typically complete by age 25
Determination of Age from Bones
Ages 0-5: teeth are best – forensic odontology
Ages 6-25: epiphyseal fusion – fusion of bone ends to bone shaft
epiphyseal fusion varies with sex and is typically complete by age 25
Ages 25-40: very hard
Ages 40+: periodontal disease, arthritis, breakdown of pelvis, occupational stress, unique clues

12. Determination of Age from Bones
Occupational stress wears bones at joints
Surgeries or healed wounds aid in identification

13. Determination of Stature from Bones
Long bone length (femur, tibia, humerus) is proportional to height
There are tables that forensic anthropologists use.
For example:
Femur length Predicted Height
41 cm cm (5’6”)
50 cm cm (6’1’)
Males: (1.88 x femur length in inches)
Females: (1.945 x femur length in inches)

14. Dating Human Skeletal Remains
Under the right conditions, bodies can be reduced to a skeleton in as little as three weeks
Laboratory Tests
Immunology tests can indicate if body is a few months old or less
Blood pigments last less than 10 years
Identification of amino acids possible if less than 100 yrs old (fluorescence)
Percentage of nitrogen in bones (new is about 4.5%) – bones lose about 0.006% a year
Carbon dating for bones centuries old

15. Facial Reconstruction
1. Obtain skull
Determine demographic information
(female, Caucasian, early 40s)
Note unique features
(had lost all back teeth on upper and lower jaw)
Anything known about this individual?
(came to U.S. by boat in from Europe, died and buried in NY around 1733)

16. 3. Begin to add common fat deposits and underlying muscles
Facial Reconstruction
Add tissue depth markers
Based on largely on sex and race
3. Begin to add common fat deposits and underlying muscles

17. Facial Reconstruction
4. Add muscle to average depth for race
5. Add skin, nose, ears
6. Add features related to age and race (wrinkles, eye and hair color)

18. Facial Reconstruction
7. Add clothing etc appropriate for the time period, religious affiliations, etc

19. The Iceman

20. Lab: the bones we’re interested in
Skull
Lab: the bones we’re interested in