Download Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Anthropology
Bones Burned in Barrel
• Sometime during the day on October 31, 2005,
photographer Teresa Halbach was scheduled to
meet with Steven Avery, one of the owners of
Avery Auto Salvage, to photograph a maroon
Plymouth Voyager minivan for . She had been
there at least fifteen times before, taking pictures
of other vehicles for the magazine. Halbach
disappeared that day. In the yard, officers found
a “burn barrel” with remains of a camera, cell
phone, and bones that were determined to be a
female adult. Damage to some of the bones,
suggested that the body was mutilated,
• Anthropology: The scientific study of the
origins and behavior as well as the
physical, social, and cultural development
of humans
• Forensics Anthropology: the study of
physical anthropology as it applies to
human skeletal remains in a legal setting
History
• 1800’s: Scientist began using skull
measurements to differentiate among individuals
• 1897: Bone remains used as evidence in a
murder case (sausage maker murder then
“cooked” wife)
• 1932: FBI started aiding in identification of
human remains
• Remains of WWII soldiers where identified using
anthropology techniques
Number of Bones
• Adult humans have 206 bones
• Babies have 450 bones
• Bones connect and fuse together as a
person ages
• Joints: location where bones meet
– Cartilage: wraps around bones for protection
– Ligaments: bands of tissue connecting
together two or more bones
– Tendons: connect muscles to bone
Aging of Bones
• Children build bones at a faster rate than bones
being broken down. Thus bones increase in size
(growth)
• After the age of 30, bones begin to deteriorate
faster than they are being built
– Excising can slow deterioration
• People with osteoporosis are at risk of bone
breakage due to loss of calcium
• The number of bones and their conditions can
tell investigators about a person’s age, health,
and whether the person had enough calcium
Osteobiography
• Osteobiography: literally translates as the
story of a life told by the bones
– One’s age, sex, race, height and health
– If one was right handed
– If they did physical labor
– Sports the person played
Bones: Males vs. Females
• Females: smoother and less knobby
• Males: thicker, rougher, and more bumpy
The Skull
• Male: Frontal lobe is low and sloping, eye
orbits tend to be square, lower jaw is more
square (90 degree angle), and square
chins
• Female: Frontal lobe is high and more
rounded, eye orbits tend to be circular,
lower jaw is more sloped (greater than 90
degrees), rounder or V-shaped chin
The Pelvis
• Males: subpubic angle
50-82 degree, shape of
pubis is triangular, shape
of pelvic cavity is heart
shaped, sacrum is longer,
narrower, and curved
inward
• Females: subpubic angle
is 90 degrees, shape of
pubis is rectangular,
shape of pelvic cavity is
oval shaped, ad sacrum
is shorter, broader, and
curved outward.