Forensic Anthropology
By J. Dickens
What does a forensic
anthropologist do?
• Tries to id decomposed or mutilated bodies
and analyze skeletal remains
• Determines if bones are human or not
• What is the age, sex, race?
• What is the COD?
Terms
• Ossification is the formation of bone by the
activity of osteoblasts and minerals.
• Tuberosity is the knot on the side of the
elbow
• Taphonomy is the study of changes to
biological organisms between death &
discovery
Changes with age
• The epiphyses are the growing end of long
bones. They are soft and cartilaginous
during the growing period but gradually
harden into solid bone and fuse with the
main shaft of the bone as adulthood is
reached.
Changes come with age
• 17-20 yo- bones of upper limbs becoming
completely ossified
• 18-23 yo bones of lower limbs becoming
completely ossified
• 23-25 yo bone of the sternum, clavicles, and
vertebrae become completely ossified
• Female aging of the skeleton is usually
about 1 year ahead of the male
Skulls
• Sutures are at the top of the skull
• Infants have large gaps. These gaps close up
after the age of 30. This fusing process
occurs in a particular sequence beginning
from the inside of the skull and working
outwards
• Complete absence of closure indicates that
the skeleton is less than 30 yo
Female VS Male Skull
• Less pronounced
muscle attachment
• Less pronounced ridge
• globular frontal bone
• shallow palate
• More pronounced
muscle attachment
• more pronounced
ridge
• slanting frontal bone
• deep palate
Face
• Females have less sloping mid-foreheads,
more pointed nose, smaller, more rounded
chin, smaller teeth
• A) Male cranial mass more blocky &
massive
• B)Male temporal ridge is more square
shaped and prominent
• C) female supraorbital margin is sharper,
males is round & dull (above eyes)
• D Zygomatic bone more pronounced in
males
• E) Mandible of female is rounded, male
square
• F) Male forehead (frontal bone) is more
slopping & lower
• G) Male has a deeper cranial mass
• H) Supercilary arch is larger and more
pronounced in men
• I) Males gonion most posterior inferior
point on angle of mandibleis more flared
out and sharply angled
• J) Teeth larger in males
Pelvic Cavity
• In the female the upper end of the pelvis is
tilted forward, the sacrum is shorter &
wider with less curvature, coccyx is more
movable & tilted backward, width of pelvis
is greater, more spacious. It has an oval to
round shape while the mans is more heart
shaped
• Pubic arch is greater than 100 degrees
Vitruvian Man
• Palm is width of 4 fingers
• foot is the width of 4 palms
• length of a man’s outspread arms is = to his
height
• hairline to bottom of chin is 1/10 height
• height =4 cubits or 24 palms
• elbow to tip of hand is 1/5 height
Porportions Cont.
•
•
•
•
Length of hand is 1/10 height
bottom of chin to nose is 1/3 length of face
hairline to eyebrows is 1/3 length of face
length of ear is 1/3 length of face
More ratios
• Foot to height… divide the length of a
person’s left foot by height, multiply by 100
Results should be about 15.. Length of foot
is approximately 15% of height
• height in inches=(1.880 X femur length) +
32.010 Males… for females height in inches
=(1.945 X femur length) + 28.679