Chapter 14Human Remains

206 BONE

S

Forensic AnthropologyIdentifies skeletalRemains where bones are the only evidence

Responsibilities

Assist in investigation of crimes

Examine and analyze human remains

Skills used to…

Recover individuals from crime scene

Reconstruct remains to analyze effects of trauma

Identify human remains

…when conventional methods cannot be used

Give expert testimony

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOG

YRemains human?Single individual or several?When did death occur?Was the body disturbed post-mortem?Gender, race, age?Cause of death?Type of death?Signs of disease, old injuries?Height, weight, physique estimated?

Functions of the Skeleton:Internal structure and support

Protection of vital organs

Attachment for muscles

Make blood cells

Storage of minerals

Types of bones:

Long

Short

Flat

Irregular

***Most accurate if body is found within 24 hours of death

A. Algor mortis; cooling of the body after death

Body cools at approx. 1-1.5 degrees per hour until environmental temp is reached.

Researcher must consider factors such as…

Environmental temp.Type of clothingIs clothing wet? (aids cooling)Air movement (aids cooling)Layers of clothing (prevents

cooling)Surface area/body mass ratio(small bodies will cool more

quickly)

Glaister formula gives hours elapsed:

98.4 – internal temp________________

1.5

1. Determining time of death

B. Livor mortis; purple or red discoloration of the skin after death, caused by pooling of the blood due to gravity.

Begins .5 hr after death, most evident within 12 hr. After 12 hr discoloration will not move regardless of how the body is handled or moved.

Areas in contact with ground (or anything) show no discoloration because capillaries are compressed.

C. Rigor mortis; stiffness in skeletal muscles 2-3 hrs after death, lasting until ~30 hrs.

Smaller muscles first. Affected by temp, dehydration, condition of muscles, use prior to death, etc.

Osteology; the study of bonesOsteons;

2. Animal vs Human Bone

In animals, these osteons would occur in rows (osteon banding) or rectagular shapes (plexiform bone).

Sheep

tibia

HUMAN ANIMAL

3. Estimating Height…using long bones.

humerus

radius

femur

tibia

Since men and women have different proportions of long bone length to total body height, we have a different formula for each sex…

Height (cm)= femur x 2.21 + 61.41 femur x 2.23 +69.08

tibia x 2.53 + 72.57 tibia x 2.39 + 81.68

humerus x 3.14 + 64.97 humerus x 2.97 + 73.57

radius x 3.87 + 73.50 radius x 3.65 + 80.40

4. Sex Determination

Using the pelvis

These three bones fuse together to make the os coxa,or half of the pelvis.

Also, the ventral arc and

the width of the pubic body

Pg. 418 in text

…using the skull

Use page 421 to add other features

5. Age DeterminationEpiphyses; growth plates at the end of long bones that fuse to the bone during early adulthood. (pg 423 of text)

Using cranial sutures

Sagittal Suture closed: 26 or older 29 or older

Sagittal Suture completely open: Younger than 32Younger than 35

Using the os pubis

Furrows (youngest) SmoothBreakdown of

bone

6. Determining Race1. Caucasoid; European, Middle Eastern, East Indian descent

2. Negroid; African, Aboriginal, Melanesian descent

3. Mongoloid; Asian, Native American, Polynesian descent

History of Forensic Anthropology

A. End of 19th centuryB. Dr. Thomas Dwight “Father of American

(1843-1911) Forensic Anthropology”

Dr. Thomas Dwight..

Looked at clues to ID a person from bones

Other leading forensic anthropologists Dr. George Dorsey

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

1868-1931

LUETGERT CASE

Dr. T.D. Stewart Curator from the

Smithsonian Institute

Helped ID casualties from WWII and

the Korean War

CILHICentral Identification Laboratory in

Hawaii

1. Responsibility

Identify and repatriate American soldiers

2. How remains are analyzed..

Teams travel to field locations

Statistical methods are used

To differentiate remains from those of the native population

The remains are taken to CILHI

Where a biological profile is created

and compared to a database

Multidisciplinary approach

TEAM APPROACH

Forensic Pathology

Determines cause and manner of death by autopsy