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Kelsey Reynolds
Prof. Teresa Potter
Anthropology 1020 – 20
December 1, 2013
Forensic Anthropology
In the most general form, forensic anthropology is a sub-field of physical and applied
anthropology that identifies a victim of death’s identity, cause of death, time since death, and the
manner of death. Forensic anthropology is used to examine the remains of a skeleton in order to
identify and determine whose they are for law enforcement agencies. A forensic physical
anthropologist can be used to help identify an individual’s remains that have been mutilated and
burned. Even in some cases where the remains have gotten to the point of almost nonrecognition. It is very important to be able to identify the human remains of an individual for
both humanitarian and legal reasons. It is a long process to be done that takes a lot of different
skill and techniques for it to be done efficiently.
It is important to understand that forensic anthropologists only deal with the human
remains of an individual. A lot of people get them confused with forensic scientists or crime
scene technicians. Some forensic anthropologists can be taught some techniques for collecting
evidence, but for the most part, they usually only learn the techniques used to analyze the
remains of an individual. They do not run DNA tests, collect trace evidence, analyze blood
splatters or weapons used, or conduct autopsies. Another misconception of forensic
anthropologists is that they only work with the skeletal remains of an individual, which is not
true. What a forensic anthropologist does do is “go to a crime scene to assist in the collection of
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human remains, cleans up the bones so that they can be looked at, analyzes skeletal remains to
establish the profile of the individual, looks at trauma evident on the bones to establish the
pathway of a bullet or the number of stab wounds, works with a forensic odontologist (dentist) to
match dental records, and testifies in court about the identity of the individual and/or the injuries
that might be evident in the skeleton.” It is a long process that involves lots of skill and training
in order to get it done correctly.
Forensic anthropologists are usually employed at forensic facilities and universities all
over the country. In order to become a forensic anthropologist, it involves a lot of training and
education. It is usually required to get a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, and usually a
PhD in anthropology. Even after they receive their PhD, they still need to go through a lot of
training that needs to be completed. It is also important for them to get experience during their
education by possibly shadowing a professional anthropologist in a few cases. An example of a
case that a forensic anthropologist might work on would be if a forensic pathologist was working
on some remains of an individual that shows evidence of multiple gunshot wounds or knife
wounds, and the pathologist can’t identify or understand the extent of the trauma of the remains.
The forensic anthropologist would then help by cleaning the bones and examining them closely
to identify the types of traumatic injury, which helps a lot in the case trials. Another example
would be if someone came across what they believe to be the remains of a skeleton, and get the
police to come investigate it. The forensic anthropologist can help by determining if the remains
are human, photographing the remains, and collecting the remains at the scene. They can then
look at the bones more closely to identify the age, sex, race, height, time since death, and the
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trauma. The forensic anthropologist can then help identify the identity of that individual and
help the police solve a missing person investigation.
A few of the things that forensic anthropologists are required to be trained to know how
to do include determining the age, sex, stature, and race of an individual’s remains. A lot of the
time, the features in the skull and pelvis can help determine those things, especially gender if it’s
a full grown skeleton. Usually in females the pelvis will be a lot broader and wider than a male
pelvis, as theirs is usually narrower. A female skull is also going to be a little bit thinner and
more fragile looking than a male skull. Determining the exact age of an individual based on
their remains can be a little more difficult for forensic anthropologists to figure out. They are
usually able to tell if it’s a full grown skeleton or if it’s the skeleton of a child, based on the
maturity of the bones. From there, they can give a general range of how old the individual was,
but it’s hard to determine the exact age of the individual. For forensic anthropologists the figure
out the stature of an individual, they just examine and analyze how their bones are shaped and
determine how they’re positioned to figure out their stature. Figuring out the race of an
individual can be a little more difficult to figure out, depending on how old the remains are and
how mutated they are. They can get a general idea of what the race was, based on where it was
found and whether or not if they can identify exactly who that individual was.
It’s not just with race though, but for all of the things that forensic anthropologists need
to figure out about an individual can be difficult or easy based on how bad the remains are
mutated or destroyed. Another thing is how long the remains have gone without being identified
or discovered. The longer it takes for an individual’s remains to be discovered, the older they
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get and it becomes harder and harder to identify them. With the older remains, forensic
anthropologists can use a method that can help establish the time since death, or postmortem
interval (PMI). It is a method that “extrapolates the exact burial duration of skeletal remains that
allows for easy discrimination of modern bones with potential forensic relevance from ancient
bones of potential archaeological relevance.” Different techniques that are used in forensic
anthropology are continuing to expand and develop overtime. With new discoveries it is
becoming easier and easier to identify the remains of individuals with more and more
technological advances being created.
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Resources
Webpage:
http://fac.utk.edu/forensic.html
Journal Articles:
Black, S. “Forensic Anthropology – Giving Back A Name.” European Journal of Morphology
41.1(2003): p55.29 Nov.2013
McLaughlin, Gregory, and Igor Lednev. “Potential Application of Raman Spectroscopy For
Determining Burial Duration Of Skeletal Remains.” Analytical & Bio analytical Chemistry
401.8(2012): p2511-2518.29 Nov.2013
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