CBT Stase Obsgyn 1 April 2016

Lecture 27 – Forensic Anthropology in DVI
Introduction
 Forensic Anthropology  defined as the field of study concerned with the identification of suspected or known
human remains from medico-legal contexts; important part of a multidisciplinary approach to investigation of mass
disasters
 Anthropologist have been responsible for skeletal remains; complete, fragmentary  fleshed, decomposed, burnt,
dismembered/ mutilation or combination
 Forensic anthropologist involves in identification related to; missing person, criminal investigations, accidents, mass
disasters, war crimes investigations and clinical cases
 Personal identification achieved through:
1. Primary data: DNA, dental-medical information and dermatoglyphic characteristics
2. Secondary data: piercings. Tattoos, hair/ eye color, fingernails, etc
 Forensic anthropologist determines:
o Biological identification – age, sex, ancestry/ race and stature of an individual
o Analysis of trauma/ pathology to the skeleton
 Forensic anthropologist is responsible for addressing questions:
1. Is the material bone?
2. Is the bone human or non?
3. What is the preservation of the remains
4. Are the remains of forensic significance?
5. How many individuals are present?
6. What is the ancestry of the individual/s?
7. What is the age of individual/s? – pake cranial suture, teeth, epiphysial growth, surface of symphysis pubic
8. What is the sex of individual/s? – bedain men and women, we can use pelvic (parturition pit, preauricular sulcus),
sacrum and line aspera (femur), cranial (orbital -
9. What is the stature of individual/s?
10. Are there any individualizing characteristics?
11. Is there evidence of trauma and or pathology on the remains?
Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)

 May result from a various event:
o Aircraft and train accidents
o Bombings and explosions
o Earthquakes and tsunami
o Fires, floods
o Infectious disease outbreaks
o Landslides, mudslides and avalanches
o Tornadoes and hurricanes
o War-related deaths and weapons of mass destruction
 Thus, it is important for practitioners to have expertise not only in human anatomy but also in:
o Taphonomy – the study of transition of organic remains from biosphere into lithosphere
o Diagenesis – the effects on organic remains that take place between the time of burial and their recovery
o Kalo kata google, diagenesis  the physical and chemical changes occurring during the conversion of sediment
to sedimentary rock
 When forensic anthropologists have assisted in the in investigation of mass disasters, they’ve been critical in the:
 Forensic anthropologist involved in the recovery of human remains:
o Recovering remains that might otherwise be unrecognizable and therefore overlooked
o The potential loss of evidence may impact on the reconstruction of peri and postmortem events
o The spatial-temporal relationship between the bodies and associated evidence, the body position and in
determining the number of individuals present
 Protocols of DVI:
Phase 1 : Involves the investigation of the scene of the disaster
Phase 2 : Involves the collection of post-mortem data from deceased individuals
Phase 3 : Involves the collection of ante-mortem information from the community in relation to persons
possibly involved in the disaster
Phase 4 : Involves the matching of the ante-mortem and post-mortem information and presentation of the
findings to constituted reconciliation board
Phase 5 : Involves the process of debriefing all personnel involved in the DVI
 What can be identified?
o Human or not
o Minimum number of individuals
o Sex
o Age
o Race
o Stature
o Bone commingling (ossoarium)
o Skeletal pathology/ injury
o Cause of and time since death
 Differential Skeletal Anatomy of Humans and Animals
 Characteristics:
1. Fusion of epiphysis ad metaphysis
2. Density of long bone – human have more trabecular than animal
 The difference between human and animal:
How does Forensic Anthropologist read bones?
 The anthropologist will examine the bones to determine  sex, age, race, height, medical history and manner of death
 Age  cranial suture, tooth, epiphyseal growth, surface of symphisis pubic
 Sex  pelvis – coxae, skull
 Race  caucasian, mongoloid, negroid

o Os wormian – intra sutural bone
o Os inca

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Lecture 27 – Forensic Anthropology in DVI

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)

 Sex  pelvis – coxae, skull

 Race  caucasian, mongoloid, negroid

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