1. FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
Race and Trauma
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

2. Anthropological Examination
Excavated remains cleaned in forensic lab
Arranged in correct anatomical order

3. Race determination - Skull
Characteristic
1 – Nasal Aperature
2 – Malars
3 – Orbits
4 – Prognathism
5 – Mandible
6 – Incisors
Race determinations
Mongoloid
Asian
Native American Indian
Caucasoid
White
Hispanic
Negroid
African American

4. Mongoloid 1 Rounded 2 Wide/Project 3 Squared 4 Moderate 5 Robust 6
Shovel-shaped

5. Caucasoid 1 Narrow/Elongated 2 Recede 3 Sloped/Rhomboid 4 Reduced 5
Medium 6
Blade-shaped

6. Negroid 1 Flared 2 Recede/Reduced 3 Rounded 4 Extreme 5 Gracile 6
Blade-shaped

8. Age – Skull development
29 bones in the skull
Initial fusion few weeks postnatal
Continues through age 21 – 35 yrs
Mathematical formulas for using sutures to determine age

10. Height determination – Long bones
Rule of thumb – “Height roughly equals 5 times the length of the humerus.”
Since it is only an estimate, always have height be a range
Formulas
2.38 (femur length cm) = Stature +/- 3.27

11. Determine when Trauma took place
Antemortem – before death
Perimortem – around the time of death
Postmortem – after death occurred

13. Perimortem trauma
Lesions have no sign of healing

14. Postmortem trauma Intentional dismemberment
Tool marks left on bone
Unintentional dismemberment
Animal tooth marks left on bone