Anthropology The pathologist’s domain is that of dead bodies; the forensic anthropologist applies...

Anthropology

• The pathologist’s domain is that of dead bodies; the forensic anthropologist applies his expertise to skeletal remains.

• Our longest surviving remnant after we die is our skeleton.

• The scientific study of skeletons for forensic purposes includes recovery of remains, skeletal examination & forensic identification.

AnthropologyRecovery of Remains

• Sometimes human & animal bones are mixed together.

• Many skeletons are recovered incomplete due to dismemberment, or to animals feeding on the corpse, or to other causes.

• There are remains that have been boiled, sawed into pieces, or charred from accidental fires or deliberate attempts to destroy the corpse.


• Skeletal remains may come to the forensic anthropologist in widely diverse forms.

• When skeletal remains are not sent to the anthropologist, the anthropologist must go after them.

• Remains may be above ground, in a casket, or exhumed from a traditional below-ground burial.


• Following steps recommended for below-ground burial:

• 1. court order legally permitting exhumation; 2. exact location of burial: cemetery address, name of person in charge, plot number of gravesite (essential not to dig up wrong person); 3. date & time of exhumation;


• 4. complete list of persons attending exhumation – persons immediately concerned with death inquiry & not members of news media or other spectators; 5. scaled sketches of gravesite; 6. photographs of burial site, coffin in situ, coffin above ground.


• Coffin should be transported to morgue or other facility for careful opening because improper handling may raise questions about injuries to body that may be discovered.

• A well embalmed body may last in a sealed casket within a burial vault for many years (some known as long as 27)


• It looked as if person had died the day or so before with natural features & small areas of skin slipping from hands & feet.

• Even unshielded by any container, a body will last longer underground.

• General rule of thumb: Decomposition Rate is as follows: 1 week in open air equals 2 weeks in water, equals 8 weeks underground.


• The horrific picture of “worms” devouring a buried corpse is false.

• Flies will lay eggs on a body even before it is dead. Larvae (maggots) will hatch out in just under 24 hours. This regular cycle can be used sometimes to establish time of death. However, maggots cannot live under ground.


• Flies & beetles don’t burrow more than a few inches below ground.

• How did they get there? Insects found their way to corpse before it was buried, and were buried alive with it.

• “The Body Farm” – bodies are exposed to elements in a “decay rate facility” or “open air morgue”


• Some 30 to 40 bodies are exposed each year – placed on the earth, in pits, automobiles, etc. and are carefully monitored to document the process of dissolution. No embalming process used.

• Some preservative effects are postmortem changes due to environmental conditions. Three are listed as follows:


• Mummification: result of tissues drying under concomitant conditions of high temperature, low humidity, & good ventilation

• Adipocere: transformation of body fat to soap-like material due to excessive moisture

• Freezing (self explanatory)


• When looking for buried bodies, aerial photography with infrared film may be helpful because the film is sensitive to heat emitted from decomposing bodies.

• Graves may be indicated by sunken area or an adjacent mound of surplus dirt. Damage to vegetation may be apparent.


• Standard search technique involves probing with steel rod about 5/16” in diameter & 5’ in length; one end with T-shaped handle & other end sharpened.

• Probing can detect soft spot relative to surrounding soil that may indicate a grave.


• A special probe sensitive to temperature is inserted, reading being used to calibrate another instrument (methane gas detector).

• Since gases from decomposing body rise upwardly in an inverted-V shape, probings should be made at varying depths to help ensure adequate coverage.


• When remains are tentatively located, dirt should be sifted as it is carefully removed, & any small objects discovered should be photographed in place on a screen.

• The general rules of collecting and preserving evidence should be followed throughout the excavation of the scene.

AnthropologySkeletal Examination

• Excavated remains are cleaned in forensic anthropologist’s laboratory on steam tables used for this purpose.

• Next, various bones are placed on exam table and arranged in proper anatomical order.

• Exam of skeletal remains follows an attempt to determine approximate age…


• …sex, race, height & other characteristics, all of which may assist in the subsequent attempt to identify the remains & determine the cause of death.

• Age: Bones can be used to estimate age. By means of a series of formulas, age can be estimated with considerable accuracy up to 25 years.


• Successive changes in pelvic bone occur within intervals of about 5 years & can provide an aid in age determination.

• Calcification of rib cartilage begins at age of bout 55. Arthritic “lipping” that appears in vertebral column & certain joints of mails appear between 35 and 40 years old


• There is also potential evidence of age in the dental data including eruption of teeth, root formation, crown structure.

• Dental estimation of chronological age is used as primary method of age determination from birth to 14 years old.


• Sex: Items of clothing & personal possessions found with remains may provide a suggestion of victim’s sex.

• Most accurate skeletal indication comes from pelvis. Inverted-V shape of lower contour of bone is narrower & more pointed in male skeleton whereas female pelvis is wider & rounder for childbirth.


• “Scars of parturition” (childbirth) on pelvic bone not only indicate sex but represent evidence decedent has borne children.

• When pelvis is not available, diameters of heads & humerus (upper arm bone), radius, and femur (upper leg bone) provide probable indication of sex.


• Race: Remnants of hair may provide quick determination of race if it is clearly Negroid or Caucasian.

• Hair of Hispanics, Native Americans & Orientals may be confused; determination should be made by expert hair criminalist.

• Determination of race of skeleton is made from examination of skull, pelvis & long bones.


• Caucasian skull has flat front profile; African Americans exhibit prognathism (jaws project beyond upper part of face).

• Absence of skull, long bones of limbs provide indication of race, but not certain one. White individual’s pelvis tends to be broader & have lower pubic bones. Long bones tend to be longer & straighter in blacks.


• Height & Other Characteristics: Measurements of long bones provide estimate of living stature of individual within an accuracy level of about an inch.

• Old rule of thumb: height roughly equals 5 times length of humerus.

• Skeleton can tell us if a person was thin, fat, muscular, right- or left-handed due to dominant arm will have longer bones.


• Past traumas, particularly fractures, may be revealed by skeletal remains.

• Cause of Death: Occasionally bones will reveal cause of death – gunshot wound, blunt-force trauma to skull.

• Knife marks may be discovered on ribs.• Other modes of death may be detected in

skeleton including metallic poisoning such as arsenic which remains for many years.

AnthropologyForensic Identification

• Three special techniques are frequently used in field of forensic anthropology.

• Two standard techniques are forensic odontology (teeth) & facial reconstruction (software & holograms) New technological breakthrough: mitochondrial DNA.

• Forensic Odontology: use of dental records when no fingerprints available.


• Because of longevity (enamel is the hardest substance of the body, outlasting all other tissue) human dentition offers obvious potential for identifying skeletal remains. Dentition also provides sufficient characteristics for individualization.

• Adult has 32 teeth with 5 surfaces in a visual examination for a total of 160 surfaces.


• Possible combinations of missing teeth, fillings, cavities & prostheses (such as bridges) even unusual spaces between teeth, represent the basis of dental identification.

• Forensic odontology, “the scientific application of dentistry to legal matters” includes such matters as dental identification & bite-mark comparison.


• Whether involving a corpse or skeleton, the process of dental identification begins with postmortem dental examination & should include the following:

• Missing, unerupted or extracted teeth; restorations & prostheses; decay & broken teeth; malposition, overlapping, crowding & spacing; malrotation; peculiar shapes of teeth; root canal therapy on x-ray exam…


• …bone pattern on x-ray exam; complete dentures; relationship of bite; oral pathology (tori, gingivitis, etc.)

• The first 3 items listed constitute basis of most routine dental identifications.

• More recent dental records, more reliable & valuable. X-rays are especially valuable due to giving information not seen by visual inspection or examination.


• More dental work done, more points of comparison. Even a single filling can be enough for identification.

• Children with few or no fillings may represent difficult identification problems.

• The elderly with upper & lower dentures may present problems.


• Bite marks are relatively distinctive & may be individualized to a particular suspect as with serial killer Ted Bundy.

• Facial Reconstruction: controversial procedure among forensic anthropologists, often used as last resort. It begins with an exam of remains to determine race, sex & approximate age of deceased as well as build of person (thin, tall, muscular, etc.)


• When facial features are present but are to distorted or gruesome for public dissemination, forensic artist may make a sketch that removes distortion, adds missing areas & makes the whole presentable.

• Identi-Kit & Photo-Fit use various facial feature to make composite portraits.


• When photos of proposed deceased become available, they can be compared with skull by means of photographic superimposition.

• Two video cameras are used with a video mixer to superimpose remains of skull onto actual size photo.


• Mitochondrial DNA: new technology. DNA found throughout cell. Changes in mitochondrial DNA are extremely rare & happen on the order of 1 ever 3 to 4 thousand years.

• It stays the same in a family for generation after generation & is passed on through the female line.


• It can endure in our bones for hundreds of years, if they are not cremated.

• Therefore, comparison results are very, very reliable and trustworthy.

• Passed through female line: It is found in the egg, it is not carried in sperm except shaft or tail which breaks off when sperm fertilizes egg and never enters egg.


• So male mitochondrial DNA is lost and only that of the mother is passed on.

• It will be found in blood of all her children both females & males but only passed down the female line as stated before. So it is very reliable with few mutations, so it is easily match for individualization with great accuracy.


• For this reason, it was particularly successful in identifying grandchildren of Argentinean women who had lost sons & daughters during political unrest of 1970s & 1980s.

• 4 nucleotides in DNA: adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine repeating in different orders making each unique.


• Due to longevity & accuracy, mitochondrial DNA is ideal technique for forensic anthropologist to establish identity of skeletal remains. Getting samples is easy.

• DNA testing was successful in resolving the question of the identity of skeletal remains unearthed in 1979 believed to be the Romanovs, the royal family executed in Russia in 1918.

Anthropology Case Study: Assassination of the Romanovs

• Read case study of the assassination of the Romanovs. Answer the following ?s

• In 1992, who were some of the forensic anthropologists identifying the remains?

• Who was Anna Anderson?

• Was the skeletal remains that of the missing Tsar’s daughter Anastasia?

• How was identity determined?

Anthropology The pathologist’s domain is that of dead bodies; the forensic anthropologist applies...

Documents

Transcript of Anthropology The pathologist’s domain is that of dead bodies; the forensic anthropologist applies...