Fore nsic Anthropology

1. Forensic Anthropology The skinny on the bones.

2. Skeletal Anatomy • There are 206 bones in the human body. • A man’s bones weigh approximately 12 pounds • A woman’s bones weigh approximately 10 pounds.

3. What does a forensic anthropologist do? • Specialize in the area of bones • Examine bones to possibly deduce • Gender • Age • Height • Race • Medical history • Manner of death

4. The Basics • First step – find out whether the bones are human or animal • Next step – finding the age of the bones by noting the growth and decay that has occurred in the bones.

5. Growth Rate • Teeth that have not grown – young children that have not lost their milk teeth. • Bones become thicker and larger and fuse together in a process known as “ossification” • Bone that finishes growing last the is the collarbone, which ceases growth at 28 years . • Bones of the elderly – degeneration begins to occur

6. Gender • Skull – three points • Ridges located above the eyes • The bone situated just below the ear and the occiput • Bone located at back of the skull

7. Gender cont. • Hips • Men’s are narrower • Women’s are wider (because of child bearing, duh) * Smaller differences in other bones, which anthropologists rely on when there is no hip or skull bone.

8. Bones can also show • How a person lived • Debilitating illness (polio, healed fractures, arthritis) • Right handed or left handed • Clues to occupation

9. What is difficult to show • Exact age • Pinpointing death • Identity • What happened after death • Manner of death