forensic anthropology, application of physical anthropology to legal cases, usually with a focus on the human skeleton. Forensic anthropology uses the techniques of physical anthropology to analyze skeletal, badly decomposed, or otherwise unidentified human remains to solve crimes. Forensic anthropologists can assess the age, sex, and unique features of a decedent and are invaluable in documenting trauma to the body and estimating how long a corpse has been decomposing. Forensic anthropologists work closely with individuals in law enforcement and medical science—and especially with specialists in ballistics, explosives, pathology, serology (the study of blood and bodily fluids), and toxicology—and are often expert witnesses in murder trials.

Although physical anthropology is concerned with human evolution, human variation, and the biological bases of human behaviour, many of its excavation and reconstruction techniques can be applied to forensic anthropology. Both disciplines use empirical evidence, genetic information, and computer technology to determine the physical characteristics of human specimens. Indeed, a forensic anthropologist can reconstruct the face of a murder victim in much the same way a physical anthropologist can reconstruct the face of a 100,000-year-old Neanderthal skull.

Historical developments

Since the 13th century, medical examiners have sought to determine the causes of deaths and to solve crimes. Given that a death can be natural, accidental, homicide, suicide, or undetermined, forensic science has been greatly aided by developments in modern chemistry, toxicology, and photography.

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forensic science: Forensic anthropology

Equipped with the pioneering work of German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in comparative human morphology, early forensic anthropologists relied upon anthropometry (the science of recording measurements of various parts of the human body). They used such physical measurements to determine general biological traits within a human population, as well as morphological differences from population to population, including the alleged physical characteristics of races and criminals. This comparative methodology has largely been supplemented by the more exacting sciences of fingerprinting and DNA profiling for determining a positive identification.

The publication of Austrian criminologist Hans Gross’s Handbuch für Untersuchungsrichter (1893; Criminal Investigation) helped to establish the science of forensics, especially in terms of a cross-transfer of evidence, such as dirt, fingerprints, carpet fibres, or hair, from the criminal to the victim. Early in the 20th century, serological research led to the discovery of the A, B, AB, and O blood groups, thus increasing the value of blood as evidence at a crime scene. In the mid-20th century, advances in biochemistry and technology resulted in the discovery of unique gene markers in each person; these genetic differences allow for the DNA fingerprinting of hair, blood, semen, and tissue. Thus, DNA testing was a major contribution to modern forensic science, though forensic anthropologists generally do not conduct such DNA analyses and often only supply samples to be tested. The 20th and 21st centuries have also seen substantial growth in public and private forensic laboratories, enabling the collection and study of empirical evidence.

Forensic investigation

Forensic anthropologists may work with bodies in a variety of conditions, including as mummies, piles of bones, decomposed bodies, charred remains, and the victims of aircraft crashes or natural catastrophes. Investigations often begin with a ground search team using cadaver dogs or a low-flying plane to locate a missing body or skeleton. As a meticulous examination of any death scene is imperative, forensic anthropologists are frequently involved at the earliest stages of investigating a human skeleton. After mapping, photographing, and labeling relevant items at the scene, the osteological evidence is examined at a forensic laboratory. Bone fragments are sorted according to size and shape and fitted together when possible.

As experts in osteology, forensic anthropologists focus on human skeletal traits, such as skull features, dental characteristics, and subcranial bone sizes and shapes, that vary from individual to individual and from population to population. When compared with medical and dental records, the presence of bone anomalies, metal plates or pins, or specific dental characteristics can help to make a positive identification. In addition to revealing the age, sex, size, stature, health, and ethnic population of the decedent, an examination of the skeleton may reveal evidence concerning pathology and any antemortem (before death), perimortem (at the time of death), or postmortem (after death) trauma. Often the time elapsed since death can be determined by using forensic entomology, which studies the relationship between insects and decomposition.

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The adult human skeleton has 206 bones, although this number may vary among individuals; a person may have an extra vertebra or rib. Generally, the adult male skeleton is larger and more robust in appearance than the adult female skeleton. An examination of the pelvis can be used to determine the sex of an individual; a smaller pelvic inlet and narrower subpelvic opening indicate an adult male, whereas a larger pelvic inlet and wider subpelvic opening indicate an adult female. The general age of an individual may be determined by skull size, condition of sutures, and an examination of the teeth, as well as by the length of particular bones (e.g., the femur and the humerus) and the degree of ossification (bone hardening) that has taken place between the shaft of a long bone and its end caps.

In the case of victims with gunshot wounds to the head, a forensic study of bullet holes and fractures in a skull can determine the trajectory of bullets through the cranium. An entrance wound is generally smaller and rounder, whereas the usually larger exit wound is more ragged and shows external beveling. Markings on a shell or bullet are photographed through a microscope and compared with information in a national database for definite identification. If a bullet is not found, then X-rays of the skull may reveal bullet fragments.