Download Sutures and DNA

Sutures and DNA
Forensic Anthropology

Identification and examination of human
skeletal remains
– Trying to determine origin, sex, approximate
age, race and skeletal injury
– May create facial reconstruction
– Identify victims of mass disaster such as
plane crash
Aging of Bone
• What can bone tell us?
– Children build bones faster and bones grow in
size
– After 30 years – process starts to reverse and
bones deteriorate faster than built
• Can be slowed by exercise
– # of bones and their condition can tell a
person’s age, health, and calcium in food
Distinguishing Age
• Bones don’t reach maturity at the same
time – To help tell their age:
– suture marks
– presence or absence of cartilage
Osteobiography
• The story of a life as told by bones
• Things we can see:
– Loss of bone density, poor teeth, signs of
arthritis
– Previous fractures, artificial joints, and pins
– Right-handed vs. left-handed
– Physical labor
Suture Marks
• Zigzag areas where
bones of the skull
meet
– In babies, some is
soft tissue that is
gradually ossified
– Suture marks slowly
fade to give
smoother
appearance as
bones age
Suture Marks Cont’d
• Coronal Suture:
– closed by age 50
• Lamboidal Suture:
– begins closing at 21
– accelerates at 26
– closed by 30
DNA Evidence
• Mitochondrial
DNA degrades
much, much,
much slower
– Can be extracted
from bones and
compared to
living relatives on
mother’s side of
family
Digital Imagery Reconstruction:
Use of computer superimposes photo
of skull with outer skin.
Facial reconstruction technique
used by forensic artists.
Facial Reconstruction

Plastic 3 D
reconstruction

2 dimensional
reconstruction

Computerized programs for Facial
Reconstruction