About OMICS Group
OMICS Group International is an amalgamation of Open Access
publications and worldwide international science conferences and
events. Established in the year 2007 with the sole aim of making the
information on Sciences and technology ‘Open Access’, OMICS
Group publishes 400 online open access scholarly journals in all
aspects of Science, Engineering, Management and Technology
journals. OMICS Group has been instrumental in taking the
knowledge on Science & technology to the doorsteps of ordinary
men and women. Research Scholars, Students, Libraries,
Educational Institutions, Research centers and the industry are main
stakeholders that benefitted greatly from this knowledge
dissemination. OMICS Group also organizes 300 International
conferences annually across the globe, where knowledge transfer
takes place through debates, round table discussions, poster
presentations, workshops, symposia and exhibitions.
About OMICS Group Conferences
OMICS Group International is a pioneer and leading science
event organizer, which publishes around 400 open access
journals and conducts over 300 Medical, Clinical, Engineering,
Life Sciences, Phrama scientific conferences all over the globe
annually with the support of more than 1000 scientific
associations and 30,000 editorial board members and 3.5 million
followers
to
its
credit.
OMICS Group has organized 500 conferences, workshops and
national symposiums across the major cities including San
Francisco, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Omaha, Orlando, Raleigh,
Santa Clara, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, United Kingdom,
Valencia, Dubai, Beijing, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
WORK OF A FORENSIC
ANTHROPOLOGIST
Dr. S.K. Dhattarwal,
Medico Legal Advisor to Govt. of Haryana
Sr. Prof. & Head
Department of Forensic Medicine
PGIMS, Rohtak.
Forensic Anthropology
• Forensic anthropology is a specialized
branch of physical anthropology, which
deals with the medico-legal
investigation.
• This branch of science grew out of need
for skeletal & anatomic expertise in
criminal investigations.
DIFFERENCE FROM
GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGIST
• The critical distinction between a forensic
anthropologist and a general
anthropologist is the former’s focus on
human identification.
• Forensic
anthropology is the
study of human
remains.
• Forensic
anthropologists are
educated in
osteology, or the
study of bones
FOCUS OF AN
ANTHROPOLOGIST
• The
main
focus
of
a
forensic
anthropologist is to assess crime scenes,
skeletal remains, develop a biological
profile, compile supportive documentation
and testify in the provincial and federal
courts.
• Their knowledge of the human body
contributes to the outcome of a death
investigation by providing law enforcement
agencies
with expert
opinions
&
conclusions, which ultimately aid in solving
any given case.
Skeletal anatomy
• a. 206 bones
• b. Man = 12 lbs
woman = 10 lbs
Role of the Forensic
Anthropologist:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Are they really bones?
Are the remains human or animal?
How many bodies?
How long dead? ‐Recent or old
Cause of death?
Time since death?
•
•
•
•
•
What is the race of the individual?
What is the sex of the individual?
What is the age of the individual?
What is the stature of the individual?
What bony pathologies did the individual
have?
• What traumas did the individual have?
• What individual traits did the individual
have?
Identifying the remains
Individuality may be determined:


from surgical procedures
from broken bones
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
• Age estimation is not an exact science – age
estimates are usually expressed in a range of years
eg. this individual was 40-50 years of age at the
time of his death
Determination of Age from Bones
Occupational stress wears
bones at joints
Skull at Different Ages
Sex
Determination of Sex
1. Pelvis best
•
females have wider subpubic angle
•
females have a wider sciatic notch
•
females have a broad pelvic inlet
Determination of Sex
2. 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)
Determination of Sex
Other bones are not usually as good an indicator
regarding sex
Race
Determination of Race
The cranium is the only reliable bone and, even then,
can only tell general category as below:
• Mongoloid (all of Asian decent and Native American
decent)
wider cheekbones, concave incisors,
width between eyes greatest
• Negro (everyone of African decent and West Indian
decent)
more prominent ridges, wider nasal opening
• Caucasian (all ‘white’ individuals) narrow everything
Estimating Height
• Measuring long bones like femur or humerus can help
estimate height
– Databases established that use mathematical
relationships
– Different tables for males, females, and races
– Example
Recent Study done in our Department:- Comparison
of Body Height and Percutaneous Femur Length
among North Indian Students.
For Male: Height = 147.85 +0.5922x F*
For Female: Height = 143.76+0.3615x F*
F - Femur length
Determining Time of Death
• Naked eye appearance is unreliable:
• Tags of soft tissue, periostium, ligaments etc.
indicate less than 5 years old.
• Soapy texture of surface indicates age less than
a few decades.
• Light, crumbling bones are likely to be a century
or more old.
Determining Cause of Death



Sharp force trauma (bone cut)
Blunt force trauma (broken bone)
Antemortem vs. postmortem breaks
Perimortem Injuries
Injury occurred at or around the time of death and may
have even caused the death
Strategy
• We
apply
knowledge
of
normal
anthropology and variations in human
skeleton, in our work to obtain reasonable
and scientific conclusions in each and
every case to answer each and every
question that a forensic anthropologist can
answer.
On Going Research Projects
• In our Institution we are working on
comparison of all the bones of body with
height and study of sexual dimorphism
between bones of different sex such as
hyoid bone, 4th rib and patella to generate
a
database
of
anthropometric
measurements and gender differences in
our region of the world.
Thank you
Let Us Meet Again
We welcome you all to our future
conferences of OMICS Group
International
Please Visit:
www.omicsgroup.com
www.conferenceseries.com