Assessment and Analysis o Remains come into a lab Documentation Notes and photos especially when you receive the body Before any work is done take a sample to minimize out of context X Ray Excise DNA samples contamination Cleaning Brushing wet or dry Maceration Bone Inventory Dental Chart Biological Profile Description o Process of manually removing tissue from bones Cleaning with chemicals or beetles Identify what bones are present absent Estimation of the age range sex ancestry and height Looking at every piece describing any o Trauma o Pathology evidence of disease or degradation of bone Postmoretem antemortem and perimortem PMI estiation PM post mortem How long since death Photographs formal Later may be used in court Final Reports o Biological Profile Age Assessment Age is the key component of biological profiles Chronological age and skeletal age do not have a one to Chronological age Skeletal age one correlation how poorly the body is functioning relative to chronological age marked by passage on the calendar biological age measure of how well or The aging process for both is influenced by genes and environment variable Multifactorial aging o Use all the information available to come up with a comprehensive estimate o Forensic Anthropologists will never give an exact estimate There is always an age range for an unidentified person The older the person the wider the given Young adults will have a ten year range Middle adults will have a ten to fifteen range range And older adults may say only 50 o Consider subadults separate from adults o Subadult Fetal from development to birth Infant from birth to 2 Child from 2 to 12 Subadult from 13 to 18 o some may break down adults into young middle and old o Based on o In subadults Development and growth subadults Deterioration of joints adults Development long bone growth dental development and eruption epiphyseal closure o In adults Pubic symphysis posterior illium sternal rib end cranial sutures histology and other methods Fetal Age Assessment o Development of primary ossification centers bones that appear before birth Long bones Diaphyses o Long Bone Length Fazekas and Kosa 1978 Tying development to long bone length Age Assessment Infants Children o Long bone growth length Linear relationship with age lengthens with age Birth to 10 years o Teeth better option Development and eruption are genetically controlled Tooth eruption o Standards developed Based on skeletal populations and live children o Highly variable by sex and ancestry o Development charts Assess crown and root formation o Compare to standards Starts at tip of crown and develops working its way down to the root Age Assessment Children Subadults o Epiphyseal development and fusion Secondary ossification center Develop after birth Fusion marks the end of growth reached adult status Highly variable Charts show when fusion begins and when it is completed Varies by sex fusion occurs earlier in females than in males Elbow is one of the first to fuse The sacrum and the medial clavicle are one of the last to fuse Age Assessment Adults o Most methods are based on deterioration pf joint surfaces o Many factors affect the deterioration o Changes that occur are grouped into phases o Phases associated with statistics averaged means standard deviation ranges o Differences between phases can be subtle o So methods are inherently subjective experience matters Age Assessment Adults Pubic Symphysis o Researched since 1920 s T W Todd o Divided the changes into 10 phases o Started at 18 19 yeas and went to 50 years o Since then Many collective studies Old standard revised New standard devised New methods New technology used Statistical methods employed o Pubic Symphysis is one of the most well researched and reliable methods o Suchey Brooks Katz Method 6 phases o Harthett 2010 7 phases o Byers Surface Ridges furrows in the young Over time they flatten Ventral border young flat Ventral bevel old angled Ventral rampart older flat Dorsal border Plateau filled in aspect of the dorsa Forming a border which eventually Less variation in earlier phases and vice surface Extremities rim fills in versa Sex specific Adult Aging Posterior Ilium o First described by Lovejoy et al 1985 Three areas Auricular surface point of articulation between the os coxae and the sacrum Retroauricular area retro behind Apex Changes are more subtle Auricular surface Transverse organization o Billows billowy appearance striations appear less organized texture o finely grained becomes coarse islands of densification porosity o young little porosity small perforations more small perforations OR large perforations Retroauricular area young smooth with no bony growths more irregular increased irregularity disorganization and bony growths Apex young sharply defined regular curve bone thickens margins thicker irregular At best gives a 15 year age range Adult Age Assessment Ribs o First described Iscan et al 1984 o Sternal end of the 4th rib o Cartilage attaches rib to the sternum o With age Joint between cartilage and rib may deteriorate Cartilage may also ossify with age o 9 phase system Summary statistic and casts o Surface bone texture In life it is covered with cartilage if in death it is also covered it may be useless Smooth more coarse see some pitting pitted and irregular o Surface contour shape also depth Smooth somewhat billowed even with edge contour begins to sink in single dip two dips deeper hollowed out Starts relatively thick thinner as contour o Rim edge thickness dips o Rim contour shape Regular consistent scalloped lose consistency more irregular straight up fucked more irregular maybe ossified cartilage Adult Age Assessment Cranial Sutures o Researched since 1920 s T W Todd o Sutures are the seams in the skull o Too much variation o But over time the sutures may fuse entirely and become completely invisible o Todd originally had a biased sample o This method of analysis has fallen out of favor with forensics o External Vault sutures Palatal sutures o Endocranial Age Assessment Adults Other o Degenerative joint diseases Affect the major joints Osteoarthritis Affects synovial joints shoulders Eburnation knees hips Inflammation in the bone that causes changes only found in advanced cases of osteoarthritis areas where bone has been smoothed polished rubbed by other bones Vertebral osteophytosis Bony buildup along vertebral margins Enthesophytes Bony growth in areas where muscles attach to bone Adult Age