Forensic Anthropology

Presented By:Taruna Lodhi

Anjana Madhu. Adeel ZaidiVivek Laur

What is anthropology?# Anthropology is the systematic study of human- kind.

Anthro-Man.

Pology-Study. # Emergence of discipline.# Two major goals: -Understand uniqueness and diversity - Discover fundamental similarities.

Four-field approach

Physical AnthropologyPrimarily concerned with humans as a biological

species.Most closely related to natural sciences.Major research areas: -Human evolution -Modern human variation SUBDISCIPLINES: - Palaeonthropology,

- Primatology - Forensics, - Genetics.

ArchaeologyArchaeologists seek out and examine the

artifacts (material products) of past societies.Archaeology is not treasure-hunting Sub-disciplines of archaeology: -Prehistoric, historic, classical, biblical,

underwater. - Modern “trash”

Linguistic AnthropologySubfield of anthropology, philosophy and

English.Main research areas: - How languages is used - Relationship between language and culture - How humans acquire language Fields of linguistics: - Structural, historical, sociolinguistics.

Cultural AnthropologySometimes known as ethnology, cultural anthropology

examines contemporary societies and cultural throughout the world.

Participants observation: - Ethnography - Ethnographic data

Applied AnthropologyTraining in all four fields required link to

other social sciences - Sociology, psychology, economics,

political science, history.Applied Anthropology - Sometimes called the 5th field - Offers practical solutions to cultural

problems

Main role of forensic anthropology is to study human remains and identify them.

It not only includes criminal cases but also cases of mass disasters and wars.

Role of forensic anthropology in building biological profiles is extremely helpful in cases of unidentified human remains.

The study of human remains.

SEARCH AND RECOVERY OF HUMAN REMAINS.Locating the grave site.Assessing the site. Securing the scene. Documenting the scene. Searching for evidence: other evidences and grave. Collection of surface evidence.Excavation of the grave site.Collection of remains and associated evidence.Transport to lab.

• The older the remains, the more difficult it is to identify them.

• If soft tissues are left forensic pathologist examines and studies entomological evidences to determine PMI

• If just bones are left then forensic anthropologist gives an opinion by looking at the age of bone.

• Sometimes it is impossible to determine how old the bone is and whether it is of a forensic case or of past population. It is due to the lack of accurate methods for qualifying PMI.

POSTMORTEM INTERVAL (PMI) AND TAPHONOMY

M. Yoshino examined the postmortem changes of human compact bone by using micro radiography, electron microscopy, and microscopic spectophotometry in 1991.

He suggested that skeletonization of buried bodies occurs around 5 years after deposition and histological changes also occur around that time.

They used UV-Fluorescense analysis to provide regression equation on time since death.

It is used to analyze PMIIt is done by correlating PMI with blood

remnants in the bone.The intensity of the chemiluminescence relates

to the PMI.But methods used for looking for soft tissue residues are not reliable as they depend on various intrinsic and extrinsic variables.

Luminol Testing

A A Vass in 1992 researched about determining time since death by

the help of volatile fatty acid ratios, description of corpse, environmental temperature.The study also showed that ions extracted

from soil solution can give valuable information regarding PMI of skeletonized body.

Ubelakar in 2001 suggested the best method to evaluate anthropological interest of the body.

So by calculating the C-14 level in different tissues and putting them in bomb curve allows us to estimate date of death.

One of the most ancient areas of forensic anthropology is to generate osteobiography.

By looking at different bone we can determine sexual dimorphism of the population.

One of the method for this is Phenice Triad (only for adult bone).

BUILDING THE BIOLOGICAL PROFILE

Stature can be estimated by measuring tibia, femur, sacral and coccygeal vertebrae of different populations.

Similarly race can be identified by variability in mandible, pelvis, teeth, cranial non metric traits, cervical spinous processes and femur which also aids in difficult ancestry attribution of human remains.

It is a area of major interest in forensic anthropolgy.

Presence of forensic anthropologist is mandatory whenever bone traumatic injuries are found as they differentiate between antimortem, perimortem and postmortem injuries.

It also helps us to find the cause of death and many times the weapon used for the murder.

Thus it is of great forensic importance.

TRAUMA ANALYSIS - DETERMINATION OF CAUSE AND MANNER OF DEATH

Antemortem Trauma: Antemortem means “before death”.Since bone is a living tissue the injuries

caused before death will show bone repairs or signs of healing.

Fractured end appear round and smooth.Broken pieces will have rejoined.

Perimortem Trauma:Perimortem means “at the time of death”In this type even though the bone

breakage patterns are same they show no signs of healing.

This includes damage caused shortly after death also.

Perimortem trauma can also have contributed or can be directly associated with the cause of death.

In this type of trauma the fracture edges are sharp and clean

Postmortem trauma: Postmortem means “after death”.It occurs after the bone has become brittle

from decomposition and drying.Some damages can also occur during the time

of recovery due to careless handling or marks obtained during excavation.

Other forms of damage may include natural agents such as animals and flaking and cracking caused due to exposure to sunlight.

CRANIO FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION

(CFR)•CFR refers to a group of procedures used to repair or shape a face or skull of a living person or to create a replica of the head & face of a dead or a missing person.•Also called as “facial approximation”•It is done manually as well as by computer software .

CFRThe major application of CFR in anthropology is

to study the remains of dead people.To establish cause of death.Identification of dead person.Compare pre-historic and modern people.

OTHER PERSONAL DESCRIPTIVES

Disciplines of “palaepathology(study of ancient disease) & osteology (study of skeletal bones) supply a plethora of information on how to extrapolate disease , stress markers or simple anatomical anomalies such as non metric traits from human remains which could be incredibly useful for building biological profile

POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF HUMAN REMAINSAfter CFR and biological profile of a victim

has led to a suspicion of identity , positive identification must be performed.

Minimum 4 points of identification are considered without any evident discrepancies.

The various methods of positive identification are-

Comparing the different bones.Antemortem & postmortem radiography.

POSITIVE IDENTIFICATIONX ray of hand, chest , frontal sinuses ,foot and

ankle.Single identification features with bony details

on CT scans.Cranial suture patterns.

The study of the livingForensic anthropology is showing its growing potential also with the issue of identifying living individuals, age determination and pedopornography.

A photo taken from a video of cctv camera in 26/11 attack

Identifying the livingA lot of research has been done on

determination of stature and study of gait and stride.

There are frequently cases in which 2-D images from video surveillance systems are the only element available for identifying a suspect. This is a completely different aspect of forensic anthropology, which deals with identifying character from outward appearance which helps to distinguish one person from another.

A lot of research has been done on the study of stature and gait. Even more difficult task is facial recognition. Because there are danger in comparing the two faces on 2-D is well known.

So a 3-D model can be made by the help of the 2-D image of the face in order to check matching of facial features and is a very rich area of research. And once finely tuned can scenario of surveillance system and destiny of terrorist attacks, bank robberies and other crimes.

Determining the age of individuals for reasons of immutability.

This is the case of living subjects with no identification documents. Frequently these people are arrested and declared underage.

So anthropologist, radiologist and odontologist examination are required for determing the probability that they are over or underage.

And if the problem of ancestry comes then skeletal and dental radiological assessment are taken into consideration.

Determining the age of sub individuals in photographic material

Once again, pornographic images can be the object of medico legal/anthropological assessment.

According to the country and legislations, the questions frequently asked is what is the age of child or adolescence?

This a novel and very difficult aspect of anthropological applications of age estimation because facial and secondary sexual characteristics are extremely variable and do not necessarily represent real age.

Alternatively there is a need to identify children even those who have disappeared years before, in these cases artificial aging of images are necessary, which is done by specific soft wares.

CASE STUDY: FACIAL APPROXIMATION

On August 8th, 2000, skeletal remains were located in a wooded area near Steinhatchee Florida. Due to trauma caused by a .38 caliber bullet,  the left half of the maxilla, was missing, as well as portions of both orbits, and nasal opening The nasal bone was unique, and considered a possible excellent identifier. Although the nasal spine was not present on the skull, the base of the nasal opening had a noticeable downward slope.

CASE STUDY...In addition to the skull, the

Investigator in charge provided photographs of both a wool hat and a pair of glasses located at the scene at various poses

The glasses were graphically placed on the sculpture. Utilizing the glasses nose piece, It was able to appropriately size the glasses to the sculpture.

CASE STUDY...

In the summer of 2004, a civilian noticed a likeness between the facial reconstruction posted online with that of missing person,Dental records matched, but authorities wanted definitive confirmation through the use of DNA. On December 27, 2004, the results came back positive.

In conclusion, by the study of recent applications of anthropology suggests that forensic anthropology is not only limited to bones but also has a wide meaning and is helpful in interesting and fascinating fields also.