Forensic Anthropology Notes Outline
FA
• applied physical anthropology
• identifying
• Info gathered from the skeletal remains of
o principal source of info about
Questions can be Answered Using Forensic Anthropology
• Are the remains
• Are the remains
• What is the
• What was the
o Natural, accidental, homicidal,
• What was the
o Millions of possibilities; usually determined by
1. Animal or Human?
• Osteology--the study of
• Human and animal bones have very
• When partial bones are only available, scientists look at the
o Osteons are the holes in bones that carry
o In animals, they form
o In humans, the patterns are known to be more
What Can We Learn?
• Determination of Sex by the
• Determination of Race by the
• Approximate Age by the growth of
• Approximate Stature by length of
• Postmortem or antimortem
• PMI (time of
2. Determination of Race
• 3-race model to categorize skeletal traits:
o Caucasian (European), Asian (Asian/Amerindian), and African (African and West
Indian).
o Common physical characteristics, but not completely consistent with
 People of mixed racial ancestry
 exhibit traits of more than one racial group and do not fit neatly into the
 non-metric traits which can be
• Race determination is viewed as a critical part of the overall identification of an
Race?
•
Caucasoid:
o Descriptor for people of European, Middle Eastern, and
o Characteristics:

Long, narrow

Narrow

A Triangular

Narrow

Oval Eye
•
Negroid:
o A descriptor for people of African, Aborigine, and
o Characteristics:

Wide

Pronounced

A Rectangular

Long bones are

Square
•
Mongoloid:
o Descriptor for people of Asian, Native American, and
o
Characteristics:

Rounded

Parabolic

Rounded


Wide
Pointed
3. Determination of Age
 The long bones grow primarily by elongation at an epiphysis at
 The long bones include the femurs, tibias, and fibulas of the legs, the humeri, radii, and ulnas of the arms, and the
 As a child grows the epiphyses become calcified (turn to
4. Determination of Stature
 Long bone length (femur, tibia, humerus) is
 There are tables that forensic anthropologists use (but these also
 Since this is inexact, there are ‘confidence intervals’ assigned to
5. Other Information We Can Get From Bones:
 Evidence of trauma (here
 Evidence of post mortem trauma (here the head of the femur was
6. Male or Female?
 The ventral arc on the female pelvic bones is also
 Bones in the male skeleton tend to be larger than
 The os pubis, sacrum, and the ilium of the pelvis have the most
 Cranium
o Crests and ridges more pronounced in
o Chin significantly more square in
o Mastoid process wide and robust in
o Forehead slopes more in
o Males have a pronounced ridge on the back of the skull for
 Normally, the long bones alone are not used alone to estimate gender.
7. Determination of Age from Bones
 Ages 0-5: teeth are best – FO
o Baby teeth are lost and adult teeth erupt in
 Ages 6-25: epiphyseal fusion – fusion of bone
o Epiphyseal fusion varies with sex and is typically complete by age
 Ages 25-40: very
 Ages 40+: basically wear and
o periodontal disease, arthritis, breakdown of
 Can also use ossification of bones such as those found in
 Scientists use the general age for sutures to fuse and compare that to make a general
 Cranial sutures also form a completely connected skull
 Growth plates called epiphyses form together and eventually
Age Determination: Use of Teeth
Facial Reconstruction
 Used when traditional methods of identification are
 Uses standard tissue thickness and facial muscles to build a
 The skull and skeleton gives information about
 Not totally accurate and is more of
Steps in Facial Reconstruction
 Establish age, gender, and
 Glue tissue markers to landmarks directly on the skull for
 Mark muscle insertion points and mount
 Mount eyes in sockets at
 Apply clay to the skull following the contours, using
 Make measurements to determine nose thickness and length and the
 Cover the skull with layers of skin and add the