Download Forensic Anthro Study Guide

STUDY GUIDE FOR FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY TEST
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• What field is forensic anthropology?
• What is a forensic anthropologist?
• What are some things that they do besides human identification?
• What are the three fields in forensic anthropology? What do they do?
• What is the first question that a forensic anthropologist asks?
• What are some other questions that forensic anthropologists have?
• How do you become a forensic anthropologist?
• What can forensic anthropologists NOT do?
BONE BASICS
• Why are bones so useful to forensic anthropologists?
• What are the two main components of the skeleton?
• Why is it important to determine age before sex in a skeleton?
• What are some functions of the skeleton?
• How many sites of ossification does a fetus have? At birth? As an adult?
• Why does the number of bones change throughout an individual’s lifetime?
• What are the two main divisions of the skeleton? (they both begin with a)
• What is the membrane that surrounds the bone called?
• What else is bone made of?
• There are two types of marrow? What are they and what do they do?
• What are the parts of a long bone called? Where are they?
• What are osteoblasts? What are osteoclasts?
POSITIONING TERMS AND BONES
• Know the planes: Coronal/Frontal, Transverse, Sagittal
• Know the positioning terms: Superior, Inferior, Anterior, Posterior, Medial,
Lateral, Proximal, Distal
• Know ALL the bones from your TEST
FEATURES
• Is it easier to tell age in an adult or subadult? Why?
• What is the best way to tell age from fetus  childhood?
• What is the best way to tell age from childhood  adolescence?
• What is the best way to tell age in an adult?
• When do the following sutures close (approximately): coronal, sagittal,
lambdoidal?
• What are some things to look for in a fully fused adult to determine age?
• What in the innominate can be used to estimate age?
• What happens to the mandible when the teeth are lost?
• What is it called with there is degeneration at the joint surfaces?
• Be able to read charts to estimate age?
• Is it easier to tell sex in an adult or subadult? Why
• Where is the best place to tell sex in the skeleton?
• This structure is generally _________________ in females?
• Know places in the skull that can be used in estimating sex.
• Know places in the innominate that can be used in estimating sex.
• How does the sacrum differ between a male and a female?
• What are the three categories of race that forensic anthropologists use?
• How would you tell the difference between the races in the skull?
• What are some other things that you can read in the skeleton?