1. Chapter 12: Human Remains
“There is a brief but very informative biography of an individual contained within the skeleton, if you know how to read it…”
—Clyde Snow, Forensic Anthropologist

2. Autopsies Performed by a pathologist
Determines the time of death. This can be done most accurately if the body is found within the first 24 hours of death
Uses certain indicators such as algor, livor and rigor mortis.

3. Rigor Mortis The rigidity of skeletal muscles after death.
Temperature Stiffness Approximate Time
of body of body Since Death
Warm
Cold
Not stiff
Stiff
Not dead more than 3 hrs
Dead between 3 and 8 hrs
Dead 8 to 30 hours
Dead more than 30 hours

4. Livor Mortis
Livor mortis is the settling of blood, resulting in a reddish or purplish color pattern.
Lividity can indicate the position of the body after death. When lividity becomes fixed, then the distribution of the pattern will not change even if the body’s position is altered.
Lividity usually becomes fixed between 10 and 15 hours after death.

5. Algor Mortis Algor mortis is the cooling rate of the body after death.
At a crime scene, the body temperature is obtained through:
Liver temperature
Glaister equation:
98.4°F - liver temperature/1.5 = hours elapsed since death
Generally the body cools 1 to ½ degrees Fahrenheit per hour until it reaches the surrounding temperature.
Rate of cooling can change depending on the surroundings

6. Forensic Entomology
Insects as Evidence

7. Insects as Evidence
Forensic entomologists use their knowledge of insects and their life cycles and behaviors to give them clues about a crime.
Most insects used in investigations are in two major orders:
1 – Flies
2 – Beetles
Blow Fly
Carrion Beetle
Species succession provide clues for investigators.
-Some species may to feed on a fresh corpse, while another species may prefer to feed on one that has been dead for two weeks.
-Investigators will also find other insect species that prey on the insects feeding on the corpse.

8. Other Factors to Consider
Weather data is also an important tool in analyzing insect evidence from a corpse.
Temperature and precipitation levels affect how insects will develop on the body
Other factors that might affect their estimates:
Was the body enclosed in an area or wrapped in a material that would have prevented flies from finding the corpse and laying eggs?
Were other insect species present that may have affected the development of the collected species?
Were there drugs or other poisons in or on the body that might have affected the larvae’s development?
Did you know? Maggots can be used to test a corpse for the presence of poisons or drugs. Some drugs can speed up or slow down the insect’s development.

9. Blow Fly Metamorphosis
Blow flies are attracted to dead bodies and often arrive within minutes of the death of an animal.
Adult
1st – Adult flies lay eggs on the carcass especially at wound areas or around the openings in the body
2nd – Eggs hatch into larva (maggots) in hours.
3rd– Larvae continue to grow and molt (shed their exoskeletons) as they pass through the various instar stages.
1st Instar - 5 mm long after 1.8 days
2nd Instar - 10 mm long after 2.5 days
3rd Instar – mm long after 4-5 days
4th – The larvae develop into pupa after burrowing in surrounding soil.
5th – Adult flies emerge from pupa cases after 6-8 days.
Pupa
Eggs
3rd Instar Larva
1st Instar Larva
2nd Instar Larva
It takes approximately days from egg to adult depending on the temperatures and humidity levels at the location of the body.

10. Examples of Beetles Early Stage Decomposition
Early to Late Stage Decomposition
Rove Beetles
(Staphylinidae)
Predator of fly eggs
Clown Beetles
(Histeridae)
Predator of fly eggs
Carrion Beetles (Silphidae) Adults & larvae feed on fly larvae
Late Stage Decomposition
Ham & Checkered Beetles (Cleridae) Predator of flies & beetles;
also feed on dead tissue
Hide Beetles (Scarabidae) Usually the last to arrive
Skin Beetles (Dermestidae) Feed on dried skin & tissues
Informational Source:
Images: &

11. Forensic Anthropology in real life
Bill Bass is a forensic anthropologist who has assisted law enforcement with hundreds of cases. He established the world’s first and only laboratory devoted to the study of human decomposition at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility.
It is known as “the body farm.”

12. The Body Farm
The nickname of a two and a half acre research facility in Tennessee developed in 1980 by Bill Bass where bodies are placed in various conditions and allowed to decompose. Its main purpose is to observe and understand the processes and timetable of postmortem decay. Over the years it has helped to improve the ability to determine "time since death" in murder cases.
“Hic locus est ubi mortui viveuntes docent.”
This is the place where the dead teach the living.

13. Forensic Anthropology
Forensic anthropology is a type of applied anthropology that specializes in the changes and variations in the human skeleton for the purpose of legal inquiry

14. Forensic Anthropology
A forensic anthropologist may provide basic identification information of skeletonized or badly decomposed remains.
From a whole bone or part of a bone, the scientist may be able to determine:
An age range
Sex
Race
Approximate height
Cause of death, disease, or anomaly

15. Osteology Study of bones 206 bones in an adult human
Function of bones:
Provides structure and rigidity
Protects soft tissue and organs
Serves as an attachment for muscles
Produces blood cells
Serves as a storage area for minerals
Can detoxify the body by removing heavy metals and other foreign elements from the blood

16. Age Determination Most accurate estimations from:
Teeth
Epiphyses (bone growth plates)
Pubic symphysis (hips)
Cranial sutures: the three major cranial sutures appear as distinct lines in youth and gradually close from the inside out.
**Investigators always use an age range because of the variation in people and how they age.

17. Age Determination Using Cranial Sutures
Sagittal suture
Sagittal suture completely closed
Males—26 or older
Female—29 or older
Sagittal suture is completely open
Male—less than 32
Female—less than 35
Complete closure of all three major sutures
Male—over 35
Female—over 50
Coronal
Lambodial

18. Gender Differences Gender can be determined by examining:
Skull Features
Pubis (hip bones)
Relative size of bones
Males are larger than females

19. Gender Differences in Bones
The pelvis of the female is wider. Males have a narrow subpubic angle (A) and a narrow pubic body (B).

20. Male Female
Sub Pubic Angle

21. Gender Differences
The ribcage and shoulders of males are generally wider and larger than that of females.

22. Race Characteristics
The skull is particularly useful in determining race if needed
Race
Nasal Passage
Orbital (Eye) Sockets
Asians
Rounded
Africans
Wide
Square
Caucasians
Narrow
Angular

23. CAUCASIAN
Angular Oval Orbits
Long, narrow nasal aperture

24. Asian
Rounded Orbits
Rounded nasal aperture

25. African
Square Orbits
Wide Nasal Aperture

26. What differences do you notice between these three skulls
What differences do you notice between these three skulls? Can you determine race?
Caucasian
African
Asian

27. Estimation of Height Male Female .
The height of a person can be calculated by using the length of long bones.
Femur, humerus, radius and tibia
Below are the equations to determine average measurements for both male and female.
(All measurements are in centimeters)
Male Female
femur x femur x
tibia x tibia x
humerus x humerus x
radius x radius x

28. Facial Restoration Used with unidentified remains
Helps give a proportioning of facial features to help in recognition
-Does not give a full accurate depiction of the actual appearance of the deceased.
After determining the sex, age, and race of an individual, facial features can be built upon a skull to assist in identification. Erasers are used to make tissue depths at various points on the skull. Clay is used to build around these markers and facial features are molded.

29. Animal Facial Restoration
Determining what T Rex looked like using the bone formation.
From this: To this:
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company