ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology

Anthropology

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic anthropology involves the identification of an individual. As such, it can be considered a medico-legal subspecialty of both physical anthropology and forensic science. Forensic anthropology focuses on the study of human osteology in order to make a positive identification, while physical anthropology focuses on the study of our species in terms of primate evolution, human genetics, and biological variations.

Origin of Forensic Science

Forensic sciences were practiced before they were identified as forensic anthropology or even forensic science. Forensic science was first documented in France in 1910 with Dr. Edmond Locard's establishment of a center where scientists studying biology, physics, and medicine came together to examine evidence for criminal investigations. This group analyzed materials and shared resources in an attempt to reconstruct crime scenes. Eventually known as a criminalistics laboratory, or crime lab, this model was followed in 1914 by the city of Montreal.

Forensic Anthropology

The Need for Forensic Anthropology

There are five main objectives in forensic anthropology:

Determine ancestry, sex, age, and living height;

Attempt to identify the nature and causative agent if evidence of traumatic injury to human bone exists;

Render a determination of postmortem interval;

Assist in locating and recovering remains so that all evidence relevant to a forensic investigation is recovered;

Provide information useful in obtaining a positive identification of deceased persons.

Forensic anthropology is needed to restore names and identities to unknown human remains from murder, mass disaster, or other found human remains. Forensic anthropologists assist both in the identification of bones and also in the recovery of bodies. Besides identifying the bones, forensic anthropologists also analyze trauma to the bone in order to gain necessary knowledge on the cause and manner of death. Nafte (2000) asserted that identifying remains may actually prevent the time and expense of a large-scale legal investigation. Forensic anthropologists not only process and analyze human remains in a laboratory but also are called on to assist in locating and recovering remains as well as to interpret any ante-, peri-, or postmortem (pre, during, or after death) movements or modifications of the remains.

Development of Forensic Anthropology

Forensic anthropology can be divided into three time periods, according to Rhine (1998): formative (early 1800s-1938), consolidation (1939-1971), and modern (1972 onward). Prior to the 1970s, those physical anthropologists working particularly with the medico-legal and forensic aspects of anthropology had no official name. The father of American forensic anthropology is Thomas Dwight, a Harvard anatomy professor in the late 19th century who published The Identification of the Human Skeleton, a Medico-legal Study in 1878. In his book, Dwight discussed how an examination of human bones could lead to the determination of gender and stature of the remains.

Discussion

A range chart provides multiple ranges of estimates so that a central tendency can be determined. To use a range chart, a forensic anthropologist charts the ranges of features observed. Where the most overlap on the chart occurs is the data range that is most likely to be correct. These are particularly useful for parameters in which multiple sources of ...