12 11 2012 Introduction Introduction Forensic anthropology is the field of study that deals with the analysis of human skeletal remains resulting from unexplained deaths Employs the principles of anthropology to analyze legal problems involving human osteological material it is an applied science that embraces both anthropological and forensic studies Attempt to accomplish 5 main objectives in their work 1 When demographic characteristics of a body can t be determined by visual inspection they attempt to determine ancestry race or ethnic group sex age and living height from the skeleton 2 Attempt to identify the nature of the traumas bullet holes stab wounds fractures and their causative agents with the intent of gathering information pertaining to the cause and manner of death 3 Determine the post mortem interval the amount of time that has passed since person died examine deterioration of cadavers 4 Locate and recover buried or surface remains in such a manner that all evidence relevant to a forensic investigation is collected 5 Provide information useful in obtaining positive identifications of deceased persons Study skeletons of deceased persons decedents that the medicolegal community medical investigators coroners has defined as requiring investigation 50 years is the appropriate period for investigating deaths Another area where they work is the study of atrocities committed during warfare Clyde Collins Snow famous forensic anthropologist that has done much to bring to light the circumstances surrounding the deaths of victims of political violence as well as helping to organize and educate local authorities on the methods used to investigate atrocities Historical Background Thomas Dwight 1843 1911 credited the Father of Forensic Anthropology in the US First to write articles and essays and give lectures on the topic of human skeletal identification which was original designation of forensic anthropology He researched methods for determining age height and sex from the sternum estimating stature without using bones of arms and legs determining age at death from closure of joints between bones of the skull and estimating sex from joints of long bones Formative Period Early 1800s to 1938 The origin of this science in the US can be traced to the Parkman murder of 1849 where 2 anatomists first demonstrated the effectiveness of methods regularly used in forensic anthropology today Parkman murdered by John W Webster Webster borrowed money from Parkman and instead of paying back murdered him Oliver Wendell Holmes and Jeffries Wyman were professors at Harvard when they were asked to investigate death Leutgert case of 1897 Albert Leutgert was accused of killing his wife Louisa and placing her body in a vat of potash in his sausage factory George A Dursey was the anthropologist Ruxton case from Great Britain cid 224 murder of 2 women wife and maid Glaister and Brash wrote about case Found bones and compared them to pictures of real life victims Used ratio between portions of the breastbone for proof Period ended with publication of Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material by Krogman Written for FBI Consolidation Period 1939 to 1971 US Army established the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii CILHI with Charles Snow to help identify the mass amount of dead bodies from World War II Korean War helped increase the knowledge base of skeletal identification US Army established lab in Japan with T Dale Stewart T Dale Stewart worked at the Smithsonian Institution and wrote numerous articles on the aspects of skeletal identification Wrote one of the most influential books Essentials of Forensic Anthropology Modern Period 1972 to Present Considered to have begun when Physical Anthropology Section in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences AAFS met for first time in 1972 Founding of this section was the result work by Ellis R Kerley and Clyde Collins Snow Almost 400 members 5 years later the American Board of Forensic Anthropology ABFA was created with the purpose of ensuring the competence of persons who practice forensic anthropology in the US Canada and their territories Composed of 70 diplomats board certified forensic anthropologists Founding of the Forensic Anthropology Data Bank at the University of Tenn Physical Anthropology section of AAFS formed a committee that created a computer database of information on modern skeletons Started in 1986 cid 224 collects information on documented forensic cases so that new standards for determining demographic from the human skeleton can be updated The data collected here has been used to develop a series of computer programs called FORDISC which can be used to calculate ancestry and sex Founding of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology SWGANTH Founded in 2008 by the FBI and Department of Defense Central Identification Lab DOD CIL to recommend best practices in the discipline Forensic Anthropologists and the Medicolegal Community Main experts in this community cid 224 medical examiners coroners and forensic pathologists Medical examiners and coroners have the legal responsibility to certify the deaths of people dying within their jurisdiction when not in the care of a physician Coroners are elected officials who may or may not have medical training Medical examiners are licensed physicians who have specialized in forensic work Forensic pathologists are medical doctors that perform autopsies All work with bodies that are fresh and still have soft tissue Once human remains are decomposed skeletonized or heavily burned and become unknown deaths Forensic anthropology cid 224 deals with identification of persons from their skeletons Provide police with demographic profile of decedents to be checked for missing persons Forensic archaeology cid 224 use archaeological methods to locate and retrieve human skeletal material while following the rules of evidence established by law enforcement agencies Not really considered a separate specialty Forensic odontology cid 224 dentists who specialize in identifying persons from their teeth match dental records with decedents teeth Forensic Anthropology and Juriceprudence Frye v United States cid 224 1923 James Frye found guilty for murder appealed his conviction based on the trial judge s exclusion of the results of a Deception Test Ruling is credited with developing the general acceptance criterion Federal Rules of Evidence FRE cid 224 1975 secure fairness in administration