Download Human Remains

Chapter 12:
Human Remains
“There is a brief but very informative
biography of an individual contained within
the skeleton, if you know how to read it…”
—Clyde Snow, Forensic Anthropologist
Human Remains
Students will learn:
How anthropologists can use bones to determine
whether remains are human; to determine the gender,
age, and sometimes race of an individual; to estimate
height; and to determine when the death occurred
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Human Remains
Students will be able to:
 Distinguish between a male and a female skeleton
 Give an age range after examining unknown remains
 Describe differences in skull features among the three
major racial categories
 Estimate height by measuring long bones
 Describe livor mortis, rigor mortis, and algor mortis
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The Pathologist
 Determines the time of death. This can
be done most accurately if the body is
found within the first 24 hours of death
 Uses certain indicators such as algor,
livor and rigor mortis.
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Algor Mortis
Algor mortis is the cooling rate of the body after
death. At a crime scene, the body temperature is
obtained through:
 Rectal temperature
 Liver temperature
Glaister equation: can be used from 1-36 hrs. (most
accurate within the first 12 hrs.
98.4°F - internal temperature/1.5 = hours elapsed since death
Generally the body cools 1 to 1 ½ degrees Fahrenheit
per hour until it reaches the surrounding temperature
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Effects that Influence
Algor Mortis
 Temperature of the surrounding
environment
 Type of clothing on the body
 Wetness of the clothing
 Air movement
 Layers of clothing
 Size of the individual (smaller bodies cool faster)
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Livor Mortis
 Livor mortis is the settling of blood
caused by gravity. It results in a
reddish or purplish color pattern on
the skin.
 Lividity can indicate the position of
the body after death. There is no
lividity in the areas touching the
ground (capillaries are constricted;
preventing blood pooling)
 Begins within a half hour after death.
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Livor Mortis
 When lividity becomes fixed, then the
distribution of the pattern will not
change even if the body’s position is
altered. This helps determine if a body
was moved after death.
 Lividity usually becomes fixed between
10 and 15 hours after death.
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Rigor Mortis
Rigor mortis refers to the rigidity of the skeletal
muscles after death
First seen in the face, neck and jaw followed by
larger muscles
Noticeable stiffness occurs within 2-3 hours
Effects begin to disappear in the same pattern
(face first, followed by larger muscles)
Gone within 30 hours, leaving the body limp.
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Rigor Mortis
Temperature
of body
Stiffness
of body
Approximate Time
Since Death
•Warm
•Not stiff
•Not dead more than 3 hrs
•Warm
•Stiff
•Dead between 3 and 8 hrs
•Cold
•Stiff
•Dead 8 to 30 hours
•Cold
•Not stiff
•Dead more than 30 hours
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Forensic
Anthropology
Forensic anthropology is a
type of applied anthropology
that specializes in the
changes and variations in the
human skeleton for the
purpose of legal inquiry
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Forensic
Anthropology
 A forensic anthropologist may provide basic identification
information of skeletonized or badly decomposed
remains.
 From a whole bone or part of a bone, the scientist may be
able to determine:
Human or animal
Individual or mixed remains
How long ago was death
Was the body disturbed
Cause of death
An age range
Sex
Race
Approximate height
Diseases, or anomalies
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Osteology
Study of bones
206 bones in an adult human
Function of bones:






Provides structure and rigidity
Protects soft tissue and organs
Serves as an attachment for muscles
Produces blood cells
Serves as a storage area for minerals
Can detoxify the body by removing heavy metals
and other foreign elements from the blood
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Bone
Classification
Bones are classified as:
Long: longer than they are wide (arms, legs,
hands and feet)
Short: as long as they are wide (wrist and
ankle)
Flat: enclose soft organs (scapula, sternum, hip
bone, rib and most skull bones)
Irregular: odd shape (vertebrae and some skull
bones)
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Estimation of
Height
The height of a person can be calculated by using the length of
certain long bones, including the femur, tibia, humerus, and
radius. Below are the equations to determine average
measurements for both male and female. (All measurements are in
centimeters and accurate to within +/-7.5 cm)
Male
Female
femur x 2.23 + 69.08
tibia x 2.39 + 81.68
humerus x 2.97 + 73.57
radius x 3.65 + 80.40
femur x 2.21 +61.41
tibia x 2.53 + 72.57
humerus x 3.14 + 64.97
radius x 3.87 + 73.50
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Gender Differences
in Bones
os pubus = pubic bone
 Females: in general have smaller
bones; straight sacrum; os pubis has a
ventral arc, a wide pubic body, and a
large pubic arch angle.
 Males: in general have larger bones
with larger surface area for muscle
attachment; curved sacrum; os pubis
has a no ventral arc, a narrow pubic
body, and a short pubic arch angle.
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Gender Differences
in Bones
The entire pelvis of females is also different from males.
The subpubic angle, and the space in the middle of the
pelvic bone is wider to make birthing easier.
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Male
Female
Sub Pubic Angle
Now you try…
Identify which is male and which is female
female
male
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Gender Differences
The ribcage and shoulders
of males are generally
wider and larger than that
of females. In addition,
about one person in
twenty has an extra rib.
This is more common in
males than in females.
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Gender Differences
In males the index finger is sometimes shorter than the
third finger. In females, the index finger is sometimes
longer than the third finger. This is not often used as an
indicator of gender as there are many exceptions.
Is this a male or female hand
according to the above rule?
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Gender Differences
in Skulls
A. Cranial mass: blocky and massive in men;
rounded and tapered in women
B. Temporal ridge: more prominent in men
C. Zygomatic arch: wider and more pronounced
in men
D. Mandible: large, square in men; small, round
in women
E. Deeper cranial mass in men with sloping
forehead
F. Brow ridge: more pronounced in men
G. Larger teeth in men
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Now you try…
Identify which is male and which is female
female
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male
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Age Determination
Most accurate estimations from:
 Teeth
 Epiphyses or growth plates
 Pubic symphysis
 Cranial sutures: the three major cranial sutures appear as distinct lines in
youth and gradually close from the inside out.
Investigators always use an age range because of the
variation in people and how they age. The investigator does
not want to eliminate any possibilities for identification.
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Age Determination
Using Epiphysis
 The dyphsis —shaft of a long bone: makes up most of the
length
 Epiphyses —growth plates at both ends of the long bone:
they fuse to the bone during adolescence
 Bones commonly used for this type of age determination
are the medial clavicle (collar bone; its medial ends meet
in the center of the body); and the iliac crest (top) of the
hip bone
 There are four stages used to estimate age: They are simply
referred to as Stages 1,2,3, and 4 and are outline on the
next two charts.
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Age Determination
Using Epiphysis
Stage of Union of
Medial Clavicle
Male
Female
Non-union without separate epiphysis (no
growth plate yet)
21 or younger
20 or younger
Non-union with separate epiphysis
(growth plate is formed but not attached)
16-21
17-20
Partial union (growth plate is beginning to
attach to the bone)
17-30
17-33
Complete union (growth plate is attached
and smooth)
21 or older
20 or older
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Age Determination
Using Epiphysis
Stage of Union
of the Iliac Crest
Male
Female
16 or younger
11 or younger
Non-union with separate epiphysis
(growth plate is formed but not attached)
13-19
14-15
Partial union (growth plate is beginning
to attach to bone)
14-23
14-23
17 or older
18 or older
Non-union without separate epiphysis
(no growth plate yet)
Complete union (growth plate is
attached and smooth)
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Cranial Sutures
 Sutures —serrated, interlocking
joints on skull. Allow for growth:
fuse together as humans age.
 Three major sutures:
Sagittal suture—top of skull;
divides right from left; runs from
top to middle of back
Coronal suture—from temporal
across top; side to side
Lambdoid suture—back of skull
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Age Determination
Using Cranial Sutures
Sagittal suture
Sagittal suture completely closed
 Males—26 or older
 Female—29 or older
Sagittal suture is completely open
 Male—less than 32
 Female—less than 35
Complete closure of all three
major sutures
 Male—over 35
 Female—over 50
Lambodial
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Coronal
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Age Determination
Using Basilar Suture
 Basilar Suture
 Technically known as the
synchondrosis sphenooccipitalis, closes in
females as young as 14
and in males as young
as 16. If the suture is
open, the individual is
generally considered 18
or younger.
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Race
Race is difficult to determine from most skeletal
remains, especially since pure races are becoming
uncommon. An experienced forensic anthropologist
can generally place skulls into one of three groups:
 Caucasoid—European, Middle Eastern, and Indian
descent
 Negroid—African, Aborigine, and Melanesian descent
 Mongoloid—Asian, Native American and Polynesian
descent
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Race
Characteristics
 Caucasoids—have a long, narrow nasal aperture,
a triangular palate, oval orbits, narrow zygomatic
arches and narrow mandibles.
 Negroids—have a wide nasal aperture, a
rectangular palate, square orbits, and more
pronounced zygomatic arches. The long bones are
longer, have less curvature and greater density.
 Mongoloids—have a more rounded nasal
aperture, a parabolic palate, rounded orbits, wide
zygomatic arches and more pointed mandibles.
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What differences do you notice
between these three skulls?
Can you determine race?
Caucasoid
Negroid
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Mongoloid
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Odontology and
Identification
Teeth are often used for body
identification because:
 They are the hardest substances in the body
 They are unique to the individual
 X-rays are a good record of teeth
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Odontology
The identity of an individual can
be determined by comparing a
person’s teeth to their dental
records. Unusual features
including the number and types
of teeth and fillings, the spacing
of the teeth, and/or special
dental work (bridges, false
teeth, root canals) help to make
a positive identification.
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Facial Restoration
After determining the sex, age,
and race of an individual, facial
features can be built upon a
skull to assist in identification.
Erasers are used to make tissue
depths at various points on the
skull. Clay is used to build
around these markers and facial
features are molded.
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Steps in Facial
Reconstruction
With a skull:
 Establish age, sex and race
 Plot landmarks for tissue
thickness
 Plot origin and insertion points
for muscles
 Plot landmarks for facial
features
 Select a dataset and mount
markers for tissue thickness
 Mount the eyes
 Model muscles on skull
 Add fatty tissue around
eyes and lacrimal glands
 Add eyelids
 Add the nose
 Add the parotid gland
 Add the ears
 Cover all with layers of
skin
 Detail the face
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One Final Product
John List killed his entire family, moved to a new town and
assumed a new identity. Seventeen years later, Frank
Bender reconstructed what he believed List would look like.
It was shown on America’s Most Wanted, and he was turned
in by the viewers almost immediately. . . looking very much
like the reconstruction.
Check out more about this story on CourtTV’s crime library:
www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/list/1.html
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People in the News
Bill Bass is a forensic anthropologist who has
assisted law enforcement with hundreds of
cases. He established the world’s first and only
laboratory devoted to the study of human
decomposition at the University of Tennessee’s
Anthropology Research Facility.
It is known as “the body farm.”
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The Body Farm
The nickname of a two and a half acre research facility in
Tennessee developed in 1980 by Bill Bass where bodies are
placed in various conditions and allowed to decompose. Its
main purpose is to observe and understand the processes
and timetable of postmortem decay. Over the years it has
helped to improve the ability to determine "time since death"
in murder cases.
Hic locus est ubi mortui viveuntes docent.
This is the place where the dead teach the living.
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Anthropologist
at Work
This anthropologist is
hard at work dusting
away material from
these imbedded
bones.
Picture taken at
Chicago’s Museum
of Natural History
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More Applications
Forensic experts may be called upon
to give information on the life and death
of humans and animals in unique
circumstances, including:
 Mass Murder (Oklahoma bombing, plane crashes, World Trade)
 Earlier man (mummies, Iceman, Lindow man)
 Historical Significance (Holocaust, uncertain death of famous
people)
 Prehistoric Animals (Dinosaurs)
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Animal Facial
Restoration
Determining what T Rex looked like using the bone formation.
From this:
To this:
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More Information
For additional information on Bill Bass and the Body Farm
www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/bill_bass/4.html
On forensic artists:
http://origin-www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/art/1.html
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