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Human Identification

The document outlines the roles and differences between various professionals involved in human identification, including osteologists, bioarchaeologists, forensic archaeologists, and forensic anthropologists. It discusses the importance of bones in establishing a biological profile, estimating sex and stature, and understanding age at death and life history. Additionally, it covers trauma types and their implications for weapon identification and manner of death.

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32 views4 pages

Human Identification

The document outlines the roles and differences between various professionals involved in human identification, including osteologists, bioarchaeologists, forensic archaeologists, and forensic anthropologists. It discusses the importance of bones in establishing a biological profile, estimating sex and stature, and understanding age at death and life history. Additionally, it covers trauma types and their implications for weapon identification and manner of death.

Uploaded by

f9mnvhxng4
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Human identification

Occupations & titles:


Osteologist (human/animal) – someone who studies Bones
Bioarchaeologist – scientific study of human remains from an
archaeological sites
Forensic archaeologist – knowledge of proper excavation techniques to
ensure that remains are recovered in a controlled & forensically
acceptable manner
Forensic anthropologist – application of the anatomical science of
anthropology & its various subfields to a legal setting
Similarities between archaeologist & anthropologist
 Search & recovery
 Interdisciplinary collaboration
Differences between archaeologist & anthropologist
Archaeologist Anthropologist
Artefact recovery Human identification
Analysis of scene Analysis of body
Identification of Identification of body
suspect
Creativity & Much more procedure
adaptability based

Why do we care about bones?


Biological profile
 Sex
 Stature
 Age
 Life history (race/ancestry)
All important of the ID of unknown human remains
Sex & stature:
Sex estimation
Subjective test – use of a scale 1-5 (1 = strongly male, 5 = strongly female)
 Pelvis
 Public symphysis
 Phenice method – used to identify if pelvis is that of a male of
female
 Greater sciatic notch – more C/hook like shape = males ,
wider = females
Wider in females
 Cranium & mandible – 5 features
 Nuchal crest
 Mastoid process
 Supraorbital margin
 Supraorbital ridge/glabella
 Mental eminence
These features are bigger in males
Juvenile remains
Very difficult to estimate sex from these types of remains
 Geometric morphometrics – analysis of shapes
 DNA testing
 Enamel peptide testing
 Discriminate function analysis of the bony labyrinth
Stature estimation
Long bone measurements
Examples – femur & vertebrae

Age at death & life history:


Estimating age
Usually used in archeological contexts

2
 Sub adult – epiphyseal fusion & dental eruption, both finish around
30 years old
 Adult (usually used in archaeological contexts)
 pelvis
 Public symphysis
 Auricular surface
 Sternal rib ends
 Cranium – scoring suture closure (open = score 0, minimal
closure = score 1, significant closure = score 2 & complete
obliteration = score 3)
 Medial clavicle
 Dental wear – not useful as diet can impact this
Life history
Accidental trauma (fractures)
 Healed – bony callus
 Healed – misalignment
 Non union & psuedoarthroses
Disease
 Osteoarthritis
 DISH (diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis)
 Osteoporosis
Teeth
Enamel hypoplasia – traverse lines/grooves/pits on the teeth that signify
a disruption in the mineralisation of the enamel as a result of stress
Dental calculus – hardened mineral build up, bad clinically but useful for
archaeologists because it can help ID dietary sources
Non metric variations
 Wear facets
 Sternal foramen
 Metopic suture

Trauma:

3
Antemortem (way before death, bone has completely healed)
perimortem (sometime before or at time of death)
postmortem (after death, can happen during transportation, unexpected
find etc)
Blunt force – sharp force – projectile/ballistic
Blunt force trauma
 Caused by a flat/rounded implement or as the result of a fall
 Characterised by fractures which can result in displacement of bone
 Can infer size, shape & weight of an implement
Sharp force trauma
 Caused by edged/pointed implement
 Typically an incision, puncture or cleft
 Additional features could help identify potential weapon
Projectile trauma
 Caused by arrows, spears, bullets/any other flying object
 Produces puncture wounds = displacement of bone & fractures
 Very difficult to identify
Weapon identification
 Can identify potential weapon from trauma
 Can be a subjective process
 Development of new methods
 Experimental research
 Helps understand manner of death

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