Forensic Anthropology: What Is Researched Within This Sub-Discipline

Forensic scientists can identify the body through dental records, DNA samples or if the fingers are intact, fingerprints.

Forensic science has come a long way from where it was less than 100 years ago. It has only been relatively recently that the advancement of technology we use, has occurred. The Body Farm, an institute in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a place where dead corpses are left to rot and then studied on how the body decays in different circumstances. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Body Farm tells about the farm from Dr. Bill Bass’ point of view, from the establishment of the farm, to the impact in the world of forensic science the farm has caused. David Pitt and Alynda Wheat offers their insight into the book in their reviews. The Body Farm has been a monumental stepping stone to the advancement of modern day forensic sciences. Dr. Bill Bass, is making

Forensic anthropology is the physical or biological studies of a human skeleton. The purpose of a forensic anthropologist is to discover secrets hidden in bones. Forensic anthropologists are trained physical anthropologists. The difference between the two are the amount of knowledge involved in forensic anthropology. In forensic anthropology science, biology, and culture are applied to the legal process.

Forensic anthropology is a subfield of physical anthropology that aims to assist in the identification of human remains and to help determine what happened to the remains (Ubelaker, 2006). A forensic anthropologist is able to aid law enforcement by narrowing down the list of possible victims. This subfield of anthropology consists of several processes and a vast list of duties that are important in providing positive identification.Even though forensic anthropology dates back many years, major advancements in this field are still being made today.

This caught my attention right away and hooked me in. Along with being a topic I was quite interested in (reference to last nonfiction book report), the first two sentences got me wondering. What could be told from a murdered person’s body? I already had a lot of background information from research and watching shows on mystery and homicide but this question led to a million answers. Some answers were cause of death, manner of death. time of death, weapon used, etc, all of which were related because this was sparked from the thought of a dead person and my ideas. From this, I read on to determine what could be told from an expert’s point of view.

After that they “analyze bones to determine the victim's biological profile” as it is said in “What is Forensic Anthropology” by R.U. Steinberg.

Description: Forensic Anthropologists helps to study the skeletal systems of people to determine the sex, ethnicity, and distinct characteristics of the dead skeleton they are studying.

The purpose of a forensic autopsy is to find out the time of death, the mechanism of death, and the manner of death. The time of death is what led to the death, the mechanism of death refers to anything used to kill the person, and the manner of death is either homicide or suicide.

“This is my lab and what we do is study bones,” states Kari Bruwelheide in her video entitled “30,000 Skeletons”. Out of all three resources, “Puzzles of the Chesapeake” by Sally Walker, “Forensic Anthropology” by an unknown author, and “30,000 Skeletons” by Smithsonian Education, but presented by Kari Bruwelheide, “30,000 Skeletons” is by far better at explaining the role of an anthropologist. It is unbeatable because it is a video and Kari Bruwelheide has personal experience of being a forensic anthropologist. A forensic anthropologist is a scientist that studies human remains, or in another word, skeletons, to try to find out information.

Forensic anthropologist examine skeletal remains for elements of a skeleton that can give clues to the person it belongs to. The Kennewick man’s skeleton was found in surprisingly good condition meaning the damage to the skeleton was done in his life, not due to deterioration. The skeleton showed a projectile point lodged in his hip, five broken ribs that did not properly heal, two small dents in his skull, and a bum shoulder. These wounds show an insight to the lifestyle

There are a few risks involves with this job. For instance, if you simply weren’t careful, you could get sick just from an autopsy of someone who died from something contagious. Aside from that, forensic pathologists often have to take time off to go to court as a medical examiner. Also, some things can affect you because they were more than you expected.

When people hear the word “forensics” it evokes a mindful of graphic, vibrant images that bring about death and crime. It’s a trigger word that reminds people of gore, autopsies, DNA, death investigations, and bullet holes. This word means so much more than just those few examples of what forensics hold. Forensics is such a broad term- it is “scientific tests or techniques used in connection with the detection of a crime”, so with that given definition forensics could mean many different things. You could go from someone who works as the forensic computer technician who can hack into a sexual predator’s hard drive in the matter of seconds to a forensic anthropologist who studies bones in a legal case. All though there

The book gives a general overview of the field of forensic science. The sections of the book include “The Scene of the Crime; Working the Scene--The Evidence; Working the Scene of the Body Human;

Forensic science is a broad term that refers to the use of science or technology in a court room environment. Forensic science plays an important role in modern popular culture; the police procedural is highly dependent upon cutting-edge forensic science. Moreover, many people are aware of the impact of DNA testing on the modern criminal justice landscape. However, forensic science actually predates many modern scientific advances; almost as long as there have been controversies, there has been some type of forensic science.

Forensic anthropology is a multi-disciplinary industry where understanding biological anthropology and knowledge of human osteology is needed to assist in positively identifying an individual, (Quinney et al., 2009). The purpose of forensic anthropology is to aid in the identification process of human skeletal material by means of establishing a biological profile. A biological profile is formed by the following fundamental characteristics: age, ancestry, stature and sex. Sex determination is essential in the identification process of human remains, as the number of potential matches is halved, (Loth and Iscan, 2000) as cited by Bidmos et al., 2010. Other characteristics, such as age, are dependent on knowing the sex of the individual, (Bidmos et al., 2010).