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'Forensic anthropology' is the application of the science of physical anthropology
Physical anthropology

Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetics inheritance, human Adaptation and variation, primatology, primate Morphology , and the List of human fossils of human evolution....
 and human osteology
Osteology

Osteology is the science of bone. A subdiscipline of anthropology and archeology, osteology is a detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, morphology , function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification , the resistance and hardness of bones , etc....
 (the study of the human skeleton
Human skeleton

The human skeleton consists of both fused and individual bones supported and supplemented by ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage. It serves as a scaffold which supports organs, anchors muscles, and protects organs such as the human brain, lungs and heart....
) in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are more or less skeletonized. A forensic anthropologist can also assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. The adjective "forensic" refers to the application of this subfield of science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
 to a court of law
LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
.
nsic anthropology borrows methods developed from the academic discipline of physical anthropology
Physical anthropology

Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetics inheritance, human Adaptation and variation, primatology, primate Morphology , and the List of human fossils of human evolution....
 and applies them to cases of forensic importance.






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'Forensic anthropology' is the application of the science of physical anthropology
Physical anthropology

Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetics inheritance, human Adaptation and variation, primatology, primate Morphology , and the List of human fossils of human evolution....
 and human osteology
Osteology

Osteology is the science of bone. A subdiscipline of anthropology and archeology, osteology is a detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, morphology , function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification , the resistance and hardness of bones , etc....
 (the study of the human skeleton
Human skeleton

The human skeleton consists of both fused and individual bones supported and supplemented by ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage. It serves as a scaffold which supports organs, anchors muscles, and protects organs such as the human brain, lungs and heart....
) in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are more or less skeletonized. A forensic anthropologist can also assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. The adjective "forensic" refers to the application of this subfield of science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
 to a court of law
LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
.

Overview

Human Remains
Forensic anthropology borrows methods developed from the academic discipline of physical anthropology
Physical anthropology

Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetics inheritance, human Adaptation and variation, primatology, primate Morphology , and the List of human fossils of human evolution....
 and applies them to cases of forensic importance. These techniques can be used to assess age, sex
Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetics traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into male and female types ....
, stature, ancestry, and analyze trauma
Physical trauma

Physical trauma refers to a body injury. A trauma patient is someone who has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury with the potential for secondary complications such as Shock , respiratory failure and death....
 and disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
. Forensic anthropologists frequently work in conjunction with forensic pathologists
Forensic pathology

is a branch of Pathology concerned with determining the cause of death by examination of a cadaver. The autopsy is performed by the pathologist at the request of a coroner usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and Civil law cases in some jurisdictions....
, odontologists, and homicide
Homicide

Homicide refers to the act of killing another human being. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English....
 investigator
Investigator

Investigator may refer to:*Clinical investigator, an investigator involved in a clinical trial*Detective, a person who investigates crimes, can be a rank and job in a police department, state or federal employee, or a civilian called a private detective...
s to identify a decedent, discover evidence of trauma, and determine the postmortem interval. Though they typically lack the legal authority to declare the official cause of death
Cause of Death

Cause of Death is a 1990 album by United States death metal band Obituary . Cause of Death is considered a landmark album in the history of death metal....
, their opinions may be taken into consideration by the medical examiner
Coroner

A coroner or forensics examiner is an official responsible for investigating deaths, particularly some of those happening under unusual circumstances, and determining the cause of death....
. They may also testify in court as expert witness, though data from some of the techniques commonly used in the field—such as forensic facial reconstruction
Forensic facial reconstruction

Forensic facial reconstruction is the process of recreating the face of an unidentified individual from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, forensic science, anthropology, osteology, and anatomy....
—are inadmissible as forensic evidence
Daubert Standard

The Daubert standard is a legal precedent set in 1993 by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the admissibility of expert witnesses' testimony during federal legal proceedings....
.

In the United States

Physical anthropology is one of the divisions of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
American Academy of Forensic Sciences

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences is a professional society for people in all areas of forensics.For nearly sixty years, the AAFS has served a distinguished and diverse membership....
. Two of the most important research collections of human skeletal remains in the U.S. are the Hamann-Todd Collection, now housed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland Museum of Natural History

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre concentration of educational, cultural and medical institutions....
 and the Terry Collection
Terry Collection

The Robert J. Terry Anatomical Skeletal Collection is a collection of some 1,728 human skeletons held by the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution....
, now housed in the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its Financial endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine....
. These collections are an important historic basis for the statistical
Statistics

Statistics is a Mathematics pertaining to the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data. It also provides tools for prediction and forecasting based on data....
 analysis necessary to make estimates and predictions from found remains. More modern collections include the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Practitioners

There are few people who identify themselves as forensic anthropologists, and in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, there are fewer than 100 Anthropologists certified as Diplomates of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology(DABFA). Most diplomates work in the academic field and consult on casework as it arises.

Notable forensic anthropologists

  • Thomas Dwight
    Thomas Dwight

    Thomas Dwight was an anatomist and teacher. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Dwight became a Catholic in 1856, and graduated from the Harvard Medical School, 1867; after studying abroad, he was instructor in comparative anatomy at Harvard College, 1872-1873, he also lectured at Bowdoin College, and succeeded Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr....
      (1843 - 1919)
  • Ales Hrdlicka (1869 - 1943)
  • Earnest Hooton
    Earnest Hooton

    Earnest Albert Hooton was a USA physical anthropology known for his work on racial classification and his popular writings such as the book Up From The Ape....
      (1887 - 1954)
  • Mildred Trotter
    Mildred Trotter

    Mildred Trotter was an important 20th century Forensic anthropology.Trotter was born in Monaca, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. in zoology and physiology from Mount Holyoke College in 1920 and her Ph.D....
      (1899 - 1991)
  • T. Dale Stewart (1901 - 1997)
  • Wilton M. Krogman (1903 - 1987)
  • Ellis R. Kerley
    Ellis R. Kerley

    Ellis R. Kerley was an United States anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of Forensic anthropology, which is a field of expertise particularly useful to criminal investigators and for the identification of human remains for humanitarian purposes....
      (1924 - 1998)
  • J. Lawrence Angel (1915 - 1988)
  • Sara C. Bisel
    Sara C. Bisel

    Dr. Sara C. Bisel was a physical anthropologist and classical archaeologist who played a prominent role in early scientific research at Herculaneum, a Mediterranean coastal town destroyed by the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius....
      (1932 - 1996)
  • William R. Maples
    William R. Maples

    William Ross Maples, Ph.D. was a noted forensic anthropology working at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History....
     (1937 - 1997)
  • Sheilagh T. Brooks ( - 2008)
  • William M. Bass
    William M. Bass

    William M. Bass is a U.S. forensic anthropology, renowned for his research on human osteology and human decomposition. He has also assisted federal, local, and non-US authorities in the identification of human remains....
      (University of Tennessee
    University of Tennessee

    The University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the flagship institution of the statewide land-grant university University of Tennessee system public school system in Tennessee....
    , Emeritus) DABFA
  • Hugh E. Berryman (Middle Tennessee State University
    Middle Tennessee State University

    Middle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Tennessee....
    )DABFA
  • Sue Black
    Sue Black

    Professor Sue Black is a Scotland forensic anthropology, professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee.She was born in Inverness in Scotland....
      (University of Dundee
    University of Dundee

    The University of Dundee is a university in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee, Scotland.Founded in 1881 and existing for most of its early existence as a Collegiate university of the University of St Andrews, the University of Dundee became an independent institution in 1967 whilst retaining much of its ancient universities of Scotland he...
    , UK)
  • Jane E. Buikstra
    Jane E. Buikstra

    Jane Ellen Buikstra is an American anthropologist and bioarchaeologist. She is credited with coining and defining bioarchaeology in the US as the application of biological anthropological methods to the study of archaeological problems....
      (Arizona State University
    Arizona State University

    Arizona State University is the largest public university research university in the United States under a single administration, with total student enrollment of 67,082 as of fall 2008....
    ) DABFA
  • Karen Ramey Burns
    Karen Ramey Burns

    Karen Ramey Burns is an United States Forensic anthropology known for her work in international human rights and her specialty is the recovery and identification of human remains in criminal, historical, archaeological, and disaster-related circumstances....
      (University of Georgia
    University of Georgia

    The University of Georgia is a public university research university located in Athens, Georgia, Georgia , the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning....
    )
  • Emily Craig (author, State Forensic Anthropologist for Kentucky
    Kentucky

    The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern United States , but it is uncommonly included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwestern United States....
    ) DABFA
  • Dennis C. Dirkmaat (Mercyhurst College
    Mercyhurst College

    Mercyhurst College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Erie, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States....
    ) DABFA
  • Anthony B. Falsetti (University of Florida
    University of Florida

    The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
    ) DABFA
  • Scott Fairgrieve (Laurentian University
    Laurentian University

    Laurentian University , founded in 1960, is a mid-sized bilingualism in Canada university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. While LU's focus is primarily on undergraduate programming, the university also features Canada's newest medical school ? opened in 2005, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, in consortium with Laurentian and Lake...
    , Canada)
  • Michael Finnegan
    Michael Finnegan

    Michael Finnegan may refer to:* Michael Finnegan , a reporter for the L.A. Times* Michael C. Finnegan, former Chief of Staff for New York Governor George Pataki...
      (Kansas State University
    Kansas State University

    Kansas State University, officially named Kansas State University of Agriculture and Applied Science but commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, Kansas, in the United States....
    ) DABFA
  • Diane L. France (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

    The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is a US government institution concerned with diagnostic consultation, education, and research. It was founded in 1862 as the Army Medical Museum and is located in Washington, DC on the grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center....
    , University of Bradford
    University of Bradford

    The University of Bradford is a university in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. Formed from a technical college in 1966, there are three campuses: the main campus, located on Richmond Road, the School of Health, on Trinity Road, and the School of Management, at Emm Lane....
    , UK) DABFA
  • William Haglund (Physicians for Human Rights
    Physicians for Human Rights

    Physicians for Human Rights is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that promotes health by protecting human rights....
    )
  • Lee Meadows Jantz (University of Tennessee
    University of Tennessee

    The University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the flagship institution of the statewide land-grant university University of Tennessee system public school system in Tennessee....
    )
  • Richard L. Jantz (University of Tennessee
    University of Tennessee

    The University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the flagship institution of the statewide land-grant university University of Tennessee system public school system in Tennessee....
    , Fordisc
    FORDISC

    FORDISC, an interactive discriminant functions program created by Stephen Ousley and Richard Jantz, is widely used by forensic anthropologists to assist in the creation of a decedent's biological profile when only parts of the cranium are available....
    )
  • Jerry Melbye (Texas State University, San Marcos) DABFA
  • Susan T. Myster (Hamline University
    Hamline University

    Hamline University is the first university in Minnesota and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It is a private coeducational institution founded in 1854 with a primary campus located in the University Avenue district of Saint Paul, Minnesota....
    ) DABFA
  • Turhon A. Murad (California State University, Chico
    California State University, Chico

    California State University, Chico is the second-oldest campus in the California State University system. It is located in Chico, California, California, about ninety miles north of Sacramento, California....
    ) DABFA
  • Surinder Nath(University of Delhi
    University of Delhi

    The 'University of Delhi' is a Central University located at Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level....
    , India)
  • Stephen Ousley (Mercyhurst College
    Mercyhurst College

    Mercyhurst College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Erie, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States....
    , Fordisc
    FORDISC

    FORDISC, an interactive discriminant functions program created by Stephen Ousley and Richard Jantz, is widely used by forensic anthropologists to assist in the creation of a decedent's biological profile when only parts of the cranium are available....
    )
  • Douglas Owsley (National Museum of Natural History
    National Museum of Natural History

    File:Smithsonian Natural History Museum circa 1926.jpgThe National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.....
    , Smithsonian Institution
    Smithsonian Institution

    The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its Financial endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine....
    )
  • Fredy Peccerelli
    Fredy Peccerelli

    Fredy Peccerelli , a forensic anthropologist, is the Director and one of the founding members of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation in Guatemala City, a nongovernmental organization that exhumes mass graves of victims of Guatemalan Civil War....
      (Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation
    Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation

    The Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation is an autonomous, non-profit, technical and scientific non-governmental organisation.Its aim is to strengthen the administration of justice and respect for human rights by investigating, documenting, and raising awareness about past instances of human rights violations, particularly unresolved...
    )
  • Kathy Reichs
    Kathy Reichs

    Kathleen Joan Toelle "Kathy" Reichs is an United Statesn crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, but is currently on indefinite leave....
     (author, University of North Carolina
    University of North Carolina

    The University of North Carolina system includes all sixteen public four-year universities in North Carolina, United States and one North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics....
     at Charlotte) DABFA
  • William C. Rodriguez (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

    The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is a US government institution concerned with diagnostic consultation, education, and research. It was founded in 1862 as the Army Medical Museum and is located in Washington, DC on the grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center....
    ) DABFA
  • Clyde Snow
    Clyde Snow

    Clyde Snow is a well known United States forensic anthropologist. Some of his skeletal confirmations include John F. Kennedy, victims of John Wayne Gacy, King Tutankhamun, victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, and Dr....
      (Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team
    Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team

    The 'Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team' is an Argentina not-for-profit scientific non-governmental organisation. It was created in 1986 at the initiative of various human rights organisations with the aim of developing forensic anthropology techniques to help locate and identify the Argentines who had disappeared during the "Dirty War" p...
    ) DABFA
  • Marcella Sorg(University of Maine
    University of Maine

    The University of Maine, established in 1865, is the largest campus, in terms of full-time equivalent enrollments, of the seven campuses in the University of Maine System....
    ) DABFA
  • Sam D. Stout (Ohio State University
    Ohio State University

    The Ohio State University is a public university research university in the state of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the List of largest United States universities by enrollment in the United States....
    ) DABFA
  • Judy M. Suchey (Los Angeles Coroner's Office) DABFA
  • Steven Symes (Mercyhurst College
    Mercyhurst College

    Mercyhurst College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Erie, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States....
    ) DABFA
  • Douglas H. Ubelaker (Smithsonian Institution
    Smithsonian Institution

    The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its Financial endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine....
    , George Washington University
    George Washington University

    The George Washington University is a Private university, Mixed-sex education university located in Washington, D.C. The school was chartered on February 9, 1821 as The Columbian College in the District of Columbia by an Act of Congress and since that time has developed into a nonsectarian research institution....
    )DABFA
  • Walter B. Wood (University of Queensland
    University of Queensland

    The University of Queensland is one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. The University is a founding member of the national Group of Eight, an alliance of research-strong, mostly "Sandstone universities" committed to ensuring that Australia has higher education institutions which are genuinely world class....
    , Australia)
  • Kewal Krishan
    Kewal Krishan

    Dr. Kewal Krishan was a medical practitioner and politician in Punjab , India. He was the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly .He was first elected as an Indian National Congress member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1969, becoming Speaker 1973-77 and again 2002 onwards....
     (Panjab University, India)


See also

  • Craniofacial anthropometry
    Craniofacial Anthropometry

    Craniofacial anthropometry is a technique used in physical anthropology comprising precise and systematic measurement of the bones of the skull ....
  • Physical Anthropology
    Physical anthropology

    Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetics inheritance, human Adaptation and variation, primatology, primate Morphology , and the List of human fossils of human evolution....
  • Bioarchaeology
    Bioarchaeology

    The term bioarchaeology was first coined by British archaeologist Grahame Clark in 1972 as a reference to zooarchaeology, or the study of animal bones from archaeological sites....
  • Forensic archaeology
    Forensic archaeology

    Forensic archaeology, a forensic science, is the application of archaeology principles, techniques and methodologies in a legal context .Forensic archaeologists are employed by police and other agencies to help locate evidence at a crime scene using the skills normally used on archaeological sites to uncover evidence from the past....
  • Fordisc
    FORDISC

    FORDISC, an interactive discriminant functions program created by Stephen Ousley and Richard Jantz, is widely used by forensic anthropologists to assist in the creation of a decedent's biological profile when only parts of the cranium are available....
  • Forensic pathology
    Forensic pathology

    is a branch of Pathology concerned with determining the cause of death by examination of a cadaver. The autopsy is performed by the pathologist at the request of a coroner usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and Civil law cases in some jurisdictions....
  • Forensic odontology
  • Forensics
    Forensics

    Forensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action....
  • Forensic facial reconstruction
    Forensic facial reconstruction

    Forensic facial reconstruction is the process of recreating the face of an unidentified individual from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, forensic science, anthropology, osteology, and anatomy....


External links

  • (Spanish)
  • by Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg, Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology, The Ohio State University and John C. Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Biomaterials and Biomechanics School of Dentistry, Oregon Health and Science University.