Identifying Human Remains
For my ePortfolio Signature Assignment I decided to draw six photos that showed the different ways in which you can identify human. I framed each of the photos and displayed them in the entry way of my house. As family and guests came inside and asked about them I would explain to them that it was my project and I would take a moment to explain a few of the ways you can distinguish identity through only looking at the bones.
Paleopathology
Many anthropologists use evidence of disease in helping date remains as well as determine possible cause of death. They accomplish this through paleopathology (the study of the evidence of trauma, disease, and congenital defects in human remains). Scientists use paleopathology in order to evaluate the effects of disease upon ancient populations. This research is usually conducted to gather more information about the biological and genetic characteristics of prehistoric or ancient populations, but sometimes paleopathology involves scientifically evaluating accounts of epidemics in historical records. For instance some conditions do leave evidence of their existence on bones. Anaemia, an effect left by iron deficiency during childhood, leaves small holes on the roofs of the eye sockets, and these are frequently seen on Egyptian skulls.
Antemortem Trauma
Specific physical characteristics are helpful in the identification process. Certain disorders or fractures can alter the bone in unique was that can be helpful in distinguishing identity or can be compared to medical records of missing persons in order to find potential matches. Fractures are common features found that contribute to identification. This is because bones broken during life heal and often retain evidence of the healing similar to a scar on the skin, which can be a known characteristic of the unknown remains. If the fracture was more serious it may have required medical attention such as surgical hardware like metal plates, rods, or screws. If you are lucky you can trace a serial number of the medical instrument back to the person it belongs to. Postmortem Trauma
Postmortem trauma occurs after death and is important for determining what happened to the remains from the time of death to the time of recovery and afterwards. The variation of postmortem traumas are critical in the understanding of whether they were caused intentionally by an individual attempting to conceal his or her crime, as would be the case in dismemberment, or occurred naturally because of plant, animal, and soil activity. |
Burial Practices
Many times archeologists and anthropologist will examine the position of the body, how it was buried, and the area it was located. Observing these factors can tell it's own story. For instance in a tradition burial you would expect to find a coffin or container and typically the person is dressed in their best with their arms folded over their chest. A grave might be suspicious if the body is found buried with its arms behind its back deep in the woods in a dirt grave. The method of burial can show if the cause of death was natural, known about, or possibly murder. Perimortem Trauma
Forensic anthropologists are trained to examine evidence regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of an individual. This involves analyzing skeletal trauma and differentiating between injuries caused by bullets, sharp objects, blunt objects, or other instruments. Sharp force trauma is the result of a narrow or pointed object hitting a very small area. The stabs, slashes, and cuts typical of sharp force often penetrate deep enough to leave cut marks on the bone. In contrast, blunt force trauma results from a larger object hitting a much broader area. Blunt force trauma can cause fractures of the arm and leg bones or crush and shatter the flat bones of the skull. Projectile trauma involves a high force applied over a very small area. Projectile trauma can involve bullets, arrows, spears, or any other small object delivered at high velocity. The damage caused by projectile trauma can often be used to indicate the direction of travel of the projectile.
Ancestry
One of the hardest aspects of determining identity is the ancestry/race of the remains. Anthropologists try their best to place the remains within one of three categories: White, African, and Asian. This is best accomplished by examining the skeletal features of the skull. Although it is not always obvious, each ancestral group tend to have common features in their skulls that indicate their biological origins. For instance Africans tend to have a broader nasal aperture and rounded nasal sill along with rectangular eye orbits while Whites usually have a higher, projecting nasal bone with rectangular “aviator glasses” eye orbits and those with Asian ancestry have circular eye orbits. |
I have always had a weird and sometimes creepy fascination with dead bodies, human remains, murder, and forensic science so I knew when I heard about the ePortfolio assignment that I wanted to focus on these topics for my research paper. I was curious to know how anthropologists and osteologists are able to identify a person by just looking at their bones/remains. I researched the different ways in which scientists do this by looking on line and in my textbook about pathology, paleopathology, osteology, archeology, dentition, and forensic science/trauma.
Pathology and paleopathology: One way to identify human remains is by studying the diseases that may be present in the remaining tissue or perhaps in the bone itself. If the remains are not completely decomposed and still have parts of soft tissue or organs than scientists can use pathology to chemically test for specific disease. However if the remains are only bare bone paleopathology steps in order to help analyze the bone and identify ancient diseases. Both of these practices are important because they can help us to know when a person may have lived and if disease is what killed them. During certain periods of history major diseases killed a lot of people, by identifying which disease is present in the remains we can then possibly guess approximately what time they lived.
Osteology and archaeology: Most of the ways to identify found remains is through osteology which is the study of the skeleton and focuses on the identification, interpretation, and study of human skeletal remains at archaeological sites. The bones are examined to find specific evidence such as what bones are present or missing, the bone physiology and morphology, and the growth and development that is observable in the bones. By looking at the bones we can tell age, sex, ancestry, and a lot of other aspects of the person when they died. We can also analyze the materials they may be buried by or with and the position their bodies were placed. This allows us to understand their culture or if their burial was ritualistic or sacred or a quick burial to hide a body.
Dentition: Technically dentition is a part of the skeleton and therefore part of osteology, but in identifying human remains looking at the teeth present might help you identify the person just without further research. If the remains are modern enough you might get lucky and identify the person by the dental impression. Many people in modern age have seen a dentist at some point in their life and possibly had an x-ray of their teeth taken. Everyone’s sets of teeth are different and by matching up past molds/x-rays you can positively identify the remains. You can also look to see in the teeth are deciduous (baby teeth) or if they are old enough to have all permanent teeth. We loose our baby teeth at certain stages in life and gain certain permanent teeth at specific times as well. By looking at the teeth present in the skull you can usually easily identify age even down to the month.
Forensic anthropology: Although a lot of deaths are caused by disease or other natural causes some of them are unfortunately caused by violence. Forensic anthropology documents and explains trauma to the bones that may have been inflicted by another person that can help identify the body and how they were possibly murdered. Though there are three types of trauma, antemortem. perimortem, or postmortem, most forensic teams focus on the second two. They looked for five specific types of trauma that help to determine death: blunt force, sharp force, ballistic, burning, and blast trauma. However they can use antemortem trauma to identify past injuries in order to help distinguish the identity of the remains.
Although many of us won’t stumble about lost human remains and be required to identify them it is important for us to understand how professionals do it and the science behind the different techniques. This way their results may be more validated and more accurate so that we can find all the lost loved ones that have never been identified. We will be able to know how and when people died which gives us insight on the past and on human culture.
Bibliography:
Robertson, B. S. (2016, July 18). What is Pathology? Retrieved July 30, 2017, from http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Pathology.aspx
Six Ways Archaeologists can see Disease in Dead People. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://digventures.com/2015/04/palaeopathology-six-tell-signs-that-help-archaeologists-see-disease/
Skeletal Trauma Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from http://cahid.dundee.ac.uk/facilities-services/forensic-services/skeletal-trauma-analysis
Brown, W. (n.d.). Identification of Human Teeth(Rep.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from University of
London website: http://wabbrown.co.uk/WABB%20Tooth%20Identity.pdf
Larsen, C. S. (2016). Essentials of physical anthropology discovering our origins(7th ed.). New York: W W Norton.
Pathology and paleopathology: One way to identify human remains is by studying the diseases that may be present in the remaining tissue or perhaps in the bone itself. If the remains are not completely decomposed and still have parts of soft tissue or organs than scientists can use pathology to chemically test for specific disease. However if the remains are only bare bone paleopathology steps in order to help analyze the bone and identify ancient diseases. Both of these practices are important because they can help us to know when a person may have lived and if disease is what killed them. During certain periods of history major diseases killed a lot of people, by identifying which disease is present in the remains we can then possibly guess approximately what time they lived.
Osteology and archaeology: Most of the ways to identify found remains is through osteology which is the study of the skeleton and focuses on the identification, interpretation, and study of human skeletal remains at archaeological sites. The bones are examined to find specific evidence such as what bones are present or missing, the bone physiology and morphology, and the growth and development that is observable in the bones. By looking at the bones we can tell age, sex, ancestry, and a lot of other aspects of the person when they died. We can also analyze the materials they may be buried by or with and the position their bodies were placed. This allows us to understand their culture or if their burial was ritualistic or sacred or a quick burial to hide a body.
Dentition: Technically dentition is a part of the skeleton and therefore part of osteology, but in identifying human remains looking at the teeth present might help you identify the person just without further research. If the remains are modern enough you might get lucky and identify the person by the dental impression. Many people in modern age have seen a dentist at some point in their life and possibly had an x-ray of their teeth taken. Everyone’s sets of teeth are different and by matching up past molds/x-rays you can positively identify the remains. You can also look to see in the teeth are deciduous (baby teeth) or if they are old enough to have all permanent teeth. We loose our baby teeth at certain stages in life and gain certain permanent teeth at specific times as well. By looking at the teeth present in the skull you can usually easily identify age even down to the month.
Forensic anthropology: Although a lot of deaths are caused by disease or other natural causes some of them are unfortunately caused by violence. Forensic anthropology documents and explains trauma to the bones that may have been inflicted by another person that can help identify the body and how they were possibly murdered. Though there are three types of trauma, antemortem. perimortem, or postmortem, most forensic teams focus on the second two. They looked for five specific types of trauma that help to determine death: blunt force, sharp force, ballistic, burning, and blast trauma. However they can use antemortem trauma to identify past injuries in order to help distinguish the identity of the remains.
Although many of us won’t stumble about lost human remains and be required to identify them it is important for us to understand how professionals do it and the science behind the different techniques. This way their results may be more validated and more accurate so that we can find all the lost loved ones that have never been identified. We will be able to know how and when people died which gives us insight on the past and on human culture.
Bibliography:
Robertson, B. S. (2016, July 18). What is Pathology? Retrieved July 30, 2017, from http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Pathology.aspx
Six Ways Archaeologists can see Disease in Dead People. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://digventures.com/2015/04/palaeopathology-six-tell-signs-that-help-archaeologists-see-disease/
Skeletal Trauma Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from http://cahid.dundee.ac.uk/facilities-services/forensic-services/skeletal-trauma-analysis
Brown, W. (n.d.). Identification of Human Teeth(Rep.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from University of
London website: http://wabbrown.co.uk/WABB%20Tooth%20Identity.pdf
Larsen, C. S. (2016). Essentials of physical anthropology discovering our origins(7th ed.). New York: W W Norton.