Dead Men Do Tell Tales
Name: ____________________________
Directions: Read the passage from Dead Men Do Tell Tales by Williams R. Maples,
Ph.D., pp. 104-109.
1. List a few reasons why bones are considered to be alive:
2. Periosteum:
a. What is it?
b. What is its function?
3. Describe changes that occur to a person’s skeleton as they age.
4. What are some of the examples the author shares to explain “Within the archives of our skeletons are
written down the intimate diaries of our lives.”?
5. What is meant by the “art of forensic science”?
6. Collagen:
a. What is it?
b. Describe collagen’s function:
7. What happens to bone when it is soaked in dilute acid?
8. Describe Osteomalacia: (Be sure to include the following: collagen, inorganic material, organic
material, and what people can do with this disorder)
9. What is “calcined bones”? How can bone end up this way? What materials are purged completely out of
the bone?
10. Finish the sentence: When collagen departs, _________________ departs as well.
11. List three bone diseases caused by a lack of collagen:
a.
b.
c.
Chapter 8 – Unnatural Nature
A. Miller 2010-2011
Dead Men Do Tell Tales
Name: ____________________________
12. Leo refers to lions. What symptom of the disease known as Leontasis ossea is associated with a lion?
13. The number of bones in the human body is often cited as 206. Why is this not an exact figure?
14. How can a forensic anthropologist tell the number of times a woman has given birth?
15. Describe how a skeleton can indicate the sex of an individual.
16. What causes male bones to be thicker and knobbier (more “robustus”) than a woman’s skeleton?
17. Why is the sex of a person not always easily determined by examining bones? Give an example.
18. List three things you found most interesting about this article.
a.
b.
c.
19. Would you be interested in reading this book to learn more? (No right or wrong answer here folks, just
trying to determine student interest!)
Chapter 8 – Unnatural Nature
A. Miller 2010-2011