Lecture 1.
The University of
Queensland
INTRODUCTION
Forensic osteology (or forensic anthropology as it is
commonly referred to overseas) is the science of identification of individuals
from their skeletal remains for medicolegal purposes. Whereas the forensic
pathologist is trained to determine the cause of death from fleshed remains,
the forensic anthropologist is usually consulted once soft tissue structures
have decomposed or been destroyed or mutilated beyond recognition.
The forensic anthropologist carries out the
examination of any remaining hard tissues in an attempt to establish not only
the identity of the individual but also the circumstances surrounding the
manner and cause of death. If teeth or dentures are present then their
evaluation falls within the scope of the forensic dentist.
The science of forensic anthropology encompasses the
field recovery of partly or completely skeletonised remains and their
laboratory management and analysis. It involves the determination of whether
the skeletal remains are of animal or human origin; the number of individuals
represented; the race, sex, age and stature of the individuals concerned; the
pathology, injuries and anomalies that are present; the identification of
unique individual characteristics; the estimation of the time since death and
manner and cause of death; and the establishment of the individual's identity
by exact matching of postmortem skeletal evidence with antemortem records or portraits.
Forensic anthropology as a discipline is a relative
newcomer to the field of forensic science and was first formally recognised by
the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 with the establishment of a
Physical Anthropology section of the Academy. The American Board of Forensic
Anthropology as an accreditation body was formed in 1977 sponsored by the
Physical Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and
the Forensic Sciences Foundation which is the research and educational arm of
the Academy. (Kerley 1978).
Within Australia and the United Kingdom, forensic
anthropology is not as advanced nor as well organised as it is in the USA. It
is not a full-time occupation of the individuals concerned. Mostly they are
medical anatomists (osteologists) or physical anthropologists who have a broad
interest in the origins and variability of modern man (human biology). Many
have studied and worked with skeletal populations from the past and apply the
techniques so developed to the modern forensic situation. Presently there is no
representative body nor system of formal training or accreditation available
for people wishing to work in the field of forensic anthropology within
Australasia.
The history of the development of the science lies in
the area of medical anatomy where the availability of collections of cadavers
of known age sex race and stature made possible the establishment of skeletal
collections for the study of skeletal variation and human origins and the
development of osteometric methodology.
Within the USA, two major collections were established
during the earlier part of this century, one at The Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland Ohio (3300 individuals) and the other at The Washington
University in St. Louis Missouri (1636 individuals). These collections are
named The Harmann-Todd Collection and
The Terry Collection respectively in
honour of the anatomists who initiated and continued the collections. The
Harmann-Todd Collection is now housed in The Cleveland Museum of Natural
History while The Terry Collection is located at The United States National
Museum of Natural History within the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
These collections have been the mainstay of skeletal research within the USA
since their establishment.
It must be realised that both of the above collections
were derived largely from the lower socioeconomic classes within population
groups that grew up and lived in the central west of the USA around the turn of
the Century. They were not representative of those population groups as a whole
nor are they representative of modern population groups. Hence the results of
ongoing studies based upon these collections are extremely biased. Nevertheless
they still form the basis for much training and research in human osteology
within the USA due to the lack of a suitable modern reference collection. This
problem is being tackled by the Forensic Anthropology section of the University
of Tennessee where a computerised skeletal database of modern forensic cases is
being developed for reference by forensic scientists. (Jantz & Moore-Jensen
1988).
A number of eminent American physical anthropologists
who trained or worked on the above collections were eventually to become
leaders in the field of forensic anthropology. Krogman (1935, 1943) and Stewart
(1948) alerted their colleagues to the role of physical anthropologists in
forensic identification. In 1939 the publication of Krogman's " Guide to
the identification of Human Skeletal Material" established for the first
time the formal association of forensic anthropology with medicolegal
identification.
Cadaveric skeletal populations such as those of the
Harmann-Todd and Terry collections, are composed of individuals mainly from the
upper end of the human age range. Young adults and juveniles are poorly represented. Hence the development of
methods for the determination of age sex and race and stature from juvenile
skeletal material has had to be based upon skeletal radiographs from living
juvenile populations.
Much work was done during the first half of this
century (Davies & Parsons 1927, Pryor 1925 & 1928, Flecker 1932-3,
Francis & Werle 1939, Francis 1940) and many of their results still stand
as the main reference data for the determination of juvenile skeletal
identification.
Both World War II and the Korean War provided
additional opportunities for physical anthropologists to develop techniques and
skills in skeletal identification based on the need to identify American War
dead for repatriation to the USA. The subjects were largely young healthy adult
males struck down in the prime of life. The opportunity was taken during the
skeletal identification process to make observations that resulted in the
development of regression formulae for stature estimation for American Whites
and Negroes, Mexicans and Mongoloids (Trotter & Gleser 1952 & 1958) and
of standards for epiphysial closure and pubic symphysial changes with age in
males (McKern & Stewart 1957).
In the immediate postwar (WW2) years the increasing
contributions of forensic anthropology to the forensic sciences was becoming
recognised by the legal profession and in 1954 Gradwohl's Legal Medicine
included a chapter on "Evaluation of evidence from the skeleton"
written by T.D. Stewart. The first major textbook in the forensic anthropology
entitled "The human skeleton in forensic medicine" was published in
1962 by Krogman.
Since that time a plethora of publications and books
devoted solely to the field of forensic anthropology has appeared on the
reference book-shelves (Stewart 1970, Fazekas & Kosa 1978, El Najjar &
McWilliams 1978, Stewart 1979, Rathbun & Buikstra 1984, Reichs 1986,
Krogman & Iscan 1986, Boddington Garland & Janaway 1987, Iscan &
Kennedy 1989) and the role of the forensic anthropologist has changed
progressively from that of an advisor to forensic pathologists and medical
examiners to that of an authority and expert witness in his or her own right.
The establishment of the Physical Anthropology Section
of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 and of the Board of
Forensic Anthropology for accreditation purposes in 1977 saw the coming of age
of the discipline within the USA and training programmes in forensic
anthropology are now available at a number of institutions around the country.
THE SCOPE OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of the science is to establish the identity of
an unknown individual from their skeletonised remains and if possible to
determine the time and circumstances surrounding the death of the individual.
Objectives:
a)
To determine:
-
human or not?
-
number of individuals?
-
age of each individual?
-
sex of each individual?
-
race of each individual?
-
stature and physique of each individual?
-
the presence of pathology and skeletal
anomalies?
-
the presence of injuries and whether of
pre or postmortem origin?
-
the possible cause of death?
-
the elapsed time since death?
-
the postmortem history of the remains
(taphonomy)?
b) To match the above determinations with
known details of a missing person.
REASONS
Certification
of Death
Wills,
Inheritance & Probate
Insurance
Right
to Pensions
Right
to Remarry
Criminal
Investigation
Social
Requirements eg Christian burial etc.
APPLICATIONS
Foetal
to old age
Single
or multiple individuals, mixed or discrete remains
Complete
or incomplete remains
Major
tissues: bones, cartilage, teeth, hair, finger & toe nails, other soft
tissue remnants
Excellent
to poor preservation
Transformed
tissues: physical, chemical, biological agents
eg
heat, water, soil, weathering, pressure, trauma
or
mutilation, acids & alkalis, insect & animal
action
NOTE:
the particular problem of identification of multiple mutilated and possibly
dismembered
victims in mass disasters e.g. aircraft crashes, explosions, earthquakes
etc.
MANAGEMENT &
INVESTIGATIONS
1. Recovery Site Management:
history of the site and discovery of the remains
environmental
characteristics
search
& recovery techniques employed
details
of the remains in situ
associated
artifacts
attention
to mapping, sampling, recording, field analysis, packaging & transport
2. Laboratory Management:
Registration
– unique ID code
Cleaning
Sorting
Laying-out
& identification of remains
Recording
& Evaluation
observation
(visual examination)
osteometry
(bone measurement)
microscopic
examination
radiological
examination
chemical/physical
tests e.g. DNA extraction
facial
reconstruction – if complete cranium present
videosuperimposition
– if antemortem photographs available
3. Missing Person's Bureau Search
Personal
Details:
medical,
dental records & X-rays etc.
driver’s
licence details, armed forces records
family descriptions,
personal or school records &
photos
etc.
4. Matching of Evidence
Presumptive: corresponding age, sex, race, stature,
hair
colour & type, location etc
Conclusive: concordance of unique features
dental
charts
skeletal
radiographic details
injuries,
pathology, anomalies
dermatoglyphics
DNA
matching
MAJOR REFERENCE TEXTBOOKS
Bass W.M. 1995 Human
Osteology - A Laboratory and Field Manual. Missouri Archaeological Society
Inc., Special Publication No 2 (4th edn.).
Brothwell D.R. 1981 Digging up Bones. British Museum of Natural History.
El-Najjar M.Y. & K.R. McWilliams 1978 Forensic Anthropology. C.C. Thomas Publishers.
Fazekas I.G. & F. Kosa 1978 Forensic Foetal Osteology. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest
Iscan M.Y. & K.A.R. Kennedy (Eds) 1989 Reconstruction of Life from the Skeleton.
Alan R Liss Inc. Publishers
Iscan M.Y. (Ed) 1989 Age Markers in the Human Skeleton. C.C. Thomas Publishers
Krogman W.M. & M.Y. Iscan 1986 The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine.
C.C. Thomas Publishers
Rathbun T.A. & J.E. Buikstra 1984 Human Identification. C.C. Thomas
Publishers.
Reichs K.J. 1986 Forensic
Osteology. C.C. Thomas Publishers
Steele D.G. & C.A. Bramblett 1988 The Anatomy and Biology of the Human Skeleton.
Texas A&M University Press
Stewart T.D. (Ed.) 1970 Personal Identification in Mass Disasters. National Museum of
Natural History, Washington D.C.
Stewart T.D. 1979 Essentials
of Forensic Anthropology. C.C. Thomas Publishers
Ubelaker D.H. 1989 Human Skeletal Remains. 2nd. edn., Taraxacum Publisher.
White T.D. & P.A. Folkens 1991 Human Osteology. Academic Press