Analysis: The Mandible

There were many factors that lead t the discovery of the skeleton owner’s gender, ethnicity, height, and age.

In my paper, I will explain forensic osteology and how it helps determine child abuse. I will also explain different cultures and situations where child abuse cases take place. I will describe where child abuse has taken place even in ancient times. Lastly, I will explain the challenges of forensic osteology in determining child abuse, what could be mistaken for it, and how it’s properly analyzed.

First we figured out whether the bones were male or female. It was discovered they were female from taking measurements from the skull, humerus, pelvis and tibia. The pelvis, which we measured first had ¾ of the traits pointing to being a female, including the sub-pubic angle, Greater Sciatic Notch and the cavity shape. Then the skull had results of ⅜ traits being a female. That is what threw us off. How could it be so different from our first result with the pelvis. After much discussion it was decided that since on the skull we used qualitative data that it wasn’t as strong of evidence. Lastly for the tibia and humerus, we got 6/6 traits being positive to female. All of this quantitative and qualitative information was put together to determine that the bones were from a female.

One morning a couple was out jogging when they stumbled upon human remains. A decision was made to bring in the forensic anthropologist team. To bring light to this mysterious death several things had to occur. Firstly the forensic team had to analyze features of bone to determine as much as possible, that includes; the person’s gender, ethnic origin, age, and height.

In my interview with Professor Killgallon, my criminal justice professor we talked about the Daubert Standard. The Daubert Standard is the assessment of how the courts treat an expert testimony. The standards make sure that the evidence presented to the court used scientific methodology and if accepted science was used to gain the evidence. The Daubert Standard is the new paradigm shift in many states in the United States. It took the place of the Frye test, which was used for many years before. The Daubert standard is the better test to use in courts because it makes the experts present more evidence to make sure that the science or evidence was not faked.

When forensic odontologists deal with cases in which there is an unidentifiable body, they will attend the autopsy to gather some information. The forensic odontologist at the autopsy will “take photographs, cranial measurements, dental impressions and x-rays from the remains” (explorehealthcareers). The forensic odontologist will also give an age estimation of the individual. The most accurate estimations can be made on any individual that is in the range of infant years to about twenty-one years of age. When baby teeth are still present, forensic odontologists can make a more accurate age estimation. They they are able to tell due to the number of permanent teeth and deciduous teeth – baby teeth – that are contained in an individual's dentition. Even when all baby teeth are

Anthropologists help with identifying human remains by constructing a biological profile. They do this by estimating age, sex, stature, and ancestry, as well as identifying other characteristics such as diseases and injuries (Anđelinović et al. 2005). The anthropologists also analyze injuries that happened around the time of a person’s death which can determine the cause of death (Allmäe, Limbo-Simovart 2015). To learn these things, some questions need to be asked, such as: is it a bone? Is it human? Which bones are present? How many people are represented? Are the remains modern or

The practical aims to establish a minimum number of individuals at the crime scene, a biological profile for each victim and the possible cause of death to these victims. In order to achieve this a number of anthropometric procedures must take place. Firstly, an examination of which bones were present and their anatomical position using a Skeletal Recording Form. Following the examination, a detailed written description of each bone was produced. A broad range of

The authors’ main argument is that the information bone turnover rates offer, which are determined by the measurement of carbon-14 content of collagen in bones, is beneficial for forensic dating and archaeological science applications. The authors also mention that the manner in which stable isotope values from collagen are interpreted can either lead to a misleading or constructive conclusion if age range is taken into consideration.

Ultimately, ensuring their credibility in the eyes of the court, they must be prepared to discuss their qualifications (Dale and Becker 167). It is necessary for the forensic scientist to present the information in a way that both the judge and the people of the courtroom will understand in order for the verdict of the presented information can be used to convict or release the accused suspect. It is evident in the science community that an increasing number of labs follow the process of validation in order to meet quality standards on an informal, national, and international level. In fact, standardized validation of evidence minimizes re-invention of methods in laboratories across the world. Methods that have been validated are more readily accepted and can be compared internationally between different laboratories (Hlinka, Muharam and Lentile 152). **When more evidence is discovered and used in cases. By minimizing new methods and

predict sex was better than postcranial measurements. Additionally, sexual dimorphic features show large variation within and between populations (Keen, 1950; Acsádi, and Nemeskeri, 1970; Workshop of European Anthropologists, 1980; Ubelaker, 1984; Krogman and İşcan, 1986). Some sites on the skull have shown a wide range within sex variation making them less reliable for sex determination. For example, a projecting nuchal crest is typically associated with a male skull but can also appear on a female skull, similarly non-projecting nuchal crests, typically associated with a female skull, can also appear on a male skull (Gulekon and Turgut, 2003; Klepinger, 2006). Yet, this and others, are still some of most commonly used sites for sexing. Keen (1950) expressed that because morphology is often related to size and robustness, determining sex is extremely difficult unless extreme features are expressed, such as a very small mastoid process that projects only a small distance for females and a massive mastoid process that projects a great distance from the inferior margins of the skull for males. Furthermore Meindl et al. (1985) and Walker (1995) have discussed that the morphology of sites on the skull of both sexes appear more masculine as the person ages, which would also hinder the accuracy of determining the sex of skeletal remains. Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994, p.16) also caution that "estimation of sex can be difficult if the observer is not familiar with the overall pattern

The article published by the Forensic Science Central in the United Kingdom (2012), identified the various features of the human skeleton that can aid in determining the sex of the individual. Some of the features includes, but are not limited to, the pelvic bone, which is wider in female than males, and the skull, which has various ways to identify the sex. The skull is said to be equally beneficial to the pelvic bone in establishing an individual’s sex. Research shows that the skull of a male will have a more rounded supraorbital margin (brow ridge), and a bony glabella (the portion of bone between the eyebrows and nose). The male’s mastoid process that sits behind the ear is larger, and their mandible is more squared than in females. The nasal cavity of a male is longer and narrower. Oppositely, the female supraorbital margin is much sharper, and her glabella is much smoother. The female’s mastoid process is smaller in size, and the mandible is less squared. The research also stated that the female nasal cavity will be slighty wider, and pear-shaped. Another factor that may be beneficial in determining the sex of skeletal remains is racial background. The research highlighted that if the racial background is known, the sex would be easier to be

Temperance Brennan’s initial analysis of the remains at the scene, she made the conclusion that the victim was female and in her mid-twenties. Although the information is accurate, her statement was premature. When identifying the age and sex portion of the biological profile, Forensic Anthropologists often look at multiple indicators before making a decision. This is due to the range in features the bones can display. For example, a 90° angle of the mandible is a trait congruent in males, however it is not exclusive. Different parts of the skeleton also display a range of indicators in regard to the age of the individual. Age is measured by the amount of growth or degeneration the remains have experienced. Usually, degeneration correlates with older age, however the nutrition and habits of the individual can speed up the process. For example, a young but fully developed female runner may not show much signs of degeneration in her upper extremities as she does on her lower extremities, specifically her knee joints. If anthropologists were to look only at the individual’s knees, they would most likely estimate a much older age. In order for Dr. Brennan to accurate, the skeleton should have been further evaluated to conclusively state the sex and age of the biological

Anthropology is a science that has many subfields. One of them is Physical Anthropology, and Forensic Anthropology is a practical application of this subfield, that “specializes in the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes” (Haviland et al, 8). According to the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA), “Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical or biological anthropology to the legal process. Physical or biological anthropologists who specialize in forensics primarily focus their studies on the human skeleton”. M.Y. Iscan, in turn, defines it more broadly as the expertise of human remains and their

Forensic odontologists lack sufficient data to conclusively ascertain the prevalence of specific dental characteristics within a given population and thus have difficulty providing scientifically-proven probabilities of dentition patterns matching. A ‘match’ is described as “specimens that could not be determined as distinguishable within measurement error” (Saks, Albright, Bohan, Bierer, & Bowers, 2016, p. 558). However, it is found that the probability of having matches