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Forensic Anthropology. “There is a brief but very informative biography of an individual contained within the skeleton, if you know how to read it…” -Clyde Snow, forensic anthropologist. Alphonse Bertillon. Father of Anthropo metry Developed ID method based on 11 measurements
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Forensic Anthropology “There is a brief but very informative biography of an individual contained within the skeleton, if you know how to read it…” -Clyde Snow, forensic anthropologist
Alphonse Bertillon • Father of Anthropometry • Developed ID method based on 11 measurements • Unreliable – abandoned for fingerprints
Bone Function • How many bones are found in an adult human? • What are the functions of human bone?
“What Am I?” • Activity on six samples: Bone or Not? • Background Questions (SHERLOCK BONES)
What questions do Anthropologists strive to answer? • Anthropologists can use either whole bones or PIECES OF BONE to make determinations about…?
Sherlock BonesYou will be able to: • Distinguish between a male and a female skeleton • Give an age range after examining unknown remains • Describe differences in skull features among the three major racial categories • Estimate height by measuring long bones
Bones and landmarks to know: • Cranial bones • Cranial Sutures • Mandible • Teeth • Epiphyseal Line/Plate • Vertebral column • Sacrum • Coccyx • Coxal bones • Pubic symphysis • Pubic arch • Sciatic notch • Hyoid • Clavicle • Humorus • Radius • Ulna • Carpals • Metacarpals • Phalanges • Femur • Patella • Tibia • Fibula • Metatarsals • Tarsals
Age • At birth, humans have approximately 450 bones • Bones fuse as we grow • The last bones fuse at ~26 YOA (there are exceptions – see skull) • There are 206 bones in the adult body
Age Determination Most accurate estimations from: • Teeth • Epiphyses or growth plates • Pubic symphysis • Cranial sutures: the three major cranial sutures appear as distinct lines in youth and gradually close from the inside out. Investigators always use an age range because of the variation in people and how they age. The investigator does not want to eliminate any possibilities for identification.
Age Determination Using Cranial Sutures Sagittal suture Sagittal suture completely closed • Males—26 or older • Female—29 or older Sagittal suture is complete open • Male—less than 32 • Female—less than 35 Complete closure of all three major sutures • Male—over 35 • Female—over 50 Lambodial Coronal
Age Determination Using Basilar Suture • Basilar Suture • Technically known as the synchondrosis spheno-occipitalis, closes in females as young as 14 and in males as young as 16. If the suture is open, the individual is generally considered 18 or younger.
What else can we learn from bones? What can be collected from bone, teeth, and hair to provide clues to a person’s identity? Scientists may also be able to gain clues as to a person’s past. What else can bones tell us? Damage from a hammer Healed Fractures Gunshot Wounds Images: http://www.legacyhealth.org/images/Housecalls/claviclefx.jpg, http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/download_lo_res.html?id=773301768, http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/calvert_femur.html, http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/trauma.html
Facial Restoration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQaEv5D7Ndo Detective’s Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_HaJT7OVIQ After determining the sex, age, and race of an individual, facial features can be built upon a skull to assist in identification. Erasers are used to make ___________ at various points on the skull. Clay is used to build around these markers and facial features are molded. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
With a skull: Establish age, sex and race Plot landmarks for tissue thickness Plot origin and insertion points for muscles Plot landmarks for facial features Select a dataset and mount markers for tissue thickness Mount the eyes Model muscles on skull Add fatty tissue around eyes and lacrimal glands Add eyelids Add the nose Add the parotid gland Add the ears Cover all with layers of skin Detail the face Steps in Facial Reconstruction Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
John Emil List • “Breeze Knoll” Westfield, NJ • Three kids, wife, and mother • Late 60s early 70s • Nov 9th: Vacation staycation
"I'm sorry that it all had to end this way but with so little income I just couldn't go on keeping the family together. And I didn't want them to experience poverty." He made the same excuse to Helen's mother, the children's maternal grandmother. He also mentioned that he could not be sure that their souls would remain pure in the future, giving the impression that he believed he had killed them for their own good. To save his own mother from anguish, he had killed her, too. • August 1972, house burnt down – arson unsolved • 18 year manhunt
WANDA FLANNERY • Tabloids • Neighbor Bob Clark
One Final Product John List killed his entire family, moved to a new town and assumed a new identity. Seventeen years later, Frank Bender reconstructed what he believed List would look like. It was shown on America’s Most Wanted, and he was turned in by the viewers almost immediately. . . looking very much like the reconstruction. Check out more about this story on CourtTV’s crime library: www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/list/1.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6o6stIMtMU Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
People in the News Bill Bass is a forensic anthropologist who has assisted law enforcement with hundreds of cases. He established the world’s first and only laboratory devoted to the study of human decomposition at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility. It is known as “the body farm.” Parts: 1 , 2 , and 3 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
Tools of the Trade • Tools of Anthropologists
Reading the Remains Watch the video and then answer the questions. What information do they provide for law enforcement agencies? How many skeletons do they have in their collection? What do they learn about a skeleton from each tool? CT Scan – X- ray – Mass spectrometer – Scanning electron microscope – DNA Analysis –
Forensic Tools & Techniques Watch the video and then answer the questions. What techniques or tools did the scientists use to find the body? What is “disturbed soil”? What might it indicate? How did they narrow down the areas to investigate? Did they find a body?
How to excavate bones • What is the correct procedure for excavating bone? • What is the “context” of the bones? • What materials are the excavation tools made of? • Why is this material used?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Bone-Cops.html http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?height=384&width=512&embedCode=Z5YTdwOn2J2QIv7gWJ6XaBLYU7KBy_vT&deepLinkEmbedCode=Z5YTdwOn2J2QIv7gWJ6XaBLYU7KBy_vT