The field of forensic anthropology has become increasingly important to other forensic scientists and to the public since the 1970s. Compiled from a symposium organised by the Mountain, Desert, and Coastal Forensic Anthropologists, this is one of the few book-length works devoted entirely to the determination of racial affiliation from skeletal remains. It is valuable for its graphic images of variation in skull and face form and covers a wide range of techniques for determining ancestry in unknown individuals. This is a great book for students of forensic anthropology.
A Companion to Forensic Anthropology presents the most comprehensive assessment of the philosophy, goals, and practice of forensic anthropology currently available, with chapters by renowned international scholars and experts. Highlights the latest advances in forensic anthropology research, as well as the most effective practices and techniques used by professional forensic anthropologists in the field Illustrates the development of skeletal biological profiles and offers important new evidence on statistical validation of these analytical methods. Evaluates the goals and methods of forensic archaeology, including the preservation of context at surface-scattered remains, buried bodies and fatal fire scenes, and recovery and identification issues related to large-scale mass disaster scenes and mass grave excavation.
The most recent advances in human identification are thoroughly discussed in this important new text. The twenty-five contributions to this volume demonstrate movement beyond the boundaries of forensic anthropology of only a decade ago. In Chapter 2 the role of the forensic anthropologist at scenes containing human victims, including multiple fatality incidents, fires, and serial murder investigations, is discussed. In Chapter 3, the role of the forensic anthropologist is examined in a unique type of recovery situation: death investigative work involving human rights violations. Chapter 4 discusses the cremation process and how it impacts the forensic anthropologist's role in analyzing remains. In Chapter 5, postmortem interval is discussed as well as the factors affecting decomposition, and the author provides a practical overview of recent techniques in determining time since death. Chapters 6 and 7 also discuss postmortem interval related to outdoor death scenes and assessment of time since death under markedly different environmental conditions. In Chapter 8, an overview of the morphological and metric metric approaches to sex estimations from skeletal remains is provided. Other chapters in this part discuss the criteria for sex and age determination of feral and neonatal material, as well as the Suchey-Brooks method and the pubic aging system. Other chapters in the book discuss the following topics: The Application of Histological Techniques for Age at Death Determination; A Multimedia Tool for the Assessment of Age in Immature Remains: The Electronic Encyclopedia for Maxillo-facial, Dental and Skeletal Development; Regression Formulae for Estimating Age at Death from Cranial Suture Closure; Craniofacial Criteria in the Skeletal Attribution of Race; The Timing of Injuries and Manner of Death; Recognizing Gunshot and Blunt Cranial Trauma Through Fracture Interpretation; Postmortem Dismemberment; Saw Marks in the Bones; Statistical Interpretation in Forensic Anthropology; The Forensic Data Bank; Technical Aspects of Identification of Skeletal Markers of Occupational Stress; Facial Approximation; The Evolving Role of the Microscope in Forensic Anthropology; and The Third Exhumation of Jesse Woodson James.
Forensic anthropologists may be consulted when human remains are found at an archaeological excavation or at a crime scene. Here's a look at how anthropologists analyze skeletal remains to learn about the deceased - their age and gender, how they may have lived, and their overall state of health prior to death. Bradley J. Adams, Ph.D., provides specific information on procedures, tools of the trade, and the science behind this fascinating field, as well as the challenges faced by today's practitioners.
Over the last 10 years interest in the disciplines of forensic anthropology and archaeology has exploded. In order to provide archaeologists and their students with a reliable understanding of these disciplines, this authoritative volume draws contributions from fifty experienced practitioners from around the world to offer a solid foundation in both the practical and ethical components of forensic work. Over 40 chapters weave together historical development, current field methods in analyzing crime, natural disasters and human atrocities, an array of laboratory techniques, key case studies, legal, professional, and ethical issues, and promising future directions, all from a global perspective. This volume will be the benchmark for the understanding of anthropological and archaeological forensics for years to come.
With contributions from 70 experienced practitioners from around the world, this second edition of the authoritative Handbook of Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology provides a solid foundation in both the practical and ethical components of forensic work. The book weaves together the discipline’s historical development; current field methods for analyzing crime, natural disasters, and human atrocities; an array of laboratory techniques; key case studies involving legal, professional, and ethical issues; and ideas about the future of forensic work--all from a global perspective. This fully revised second edition expands the geographic representation of the first edition by including chapters from practitioners in South Africa and Colombia, and adds exciting new chapters on the International Commission on Missing Persons and on forensic work being done to identify victims of the Battle of Fromelles during World War I. The Handbook of Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology provides an updated perspective of the disciplines of forensic archaeology and anthropology.
An essential foundation for the practice of forensic anthropology This text is the first of its level written in more than twenty years. It serves as a summary and guide to the core material that needs to be mastered and evaluated for the practice of forensic anthropology. The text is divided into three parts that collectively provide a solid base in theory and methodology: Part One, "Background Setting for Forensic Anthropology," introduces the field and discusses the role of forensic anthropology in historic context. Part Two, "Towards Personal Identification," discusses initial assessments of skeletal remains; determining sex, age, ancestral background, and stature; and skeletal markers of activity and life history. Part Three, "Principal Anthropological Roles in Medical-Legal Investigation," examines trauma; the postmortem period; professionalism, ethics, and the expert witness; and genetics and DNA. The critical and evaluative approach to the primary literature stresses the inherent biological constraints on degrees of precision and certainty, and cautions about potential pitfalls. The practical focus, coupled with theoretical basics, make Fundamentals of Forensic Anthropology ideal for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in biological anthropology as well as forensic scientists in allied fields of medical-legal investigation.
By T.D. Stewart, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. With a Foreword by Ellis R. Kerley. The three sections of this book tell precisely what a forensic anthropologist contributes to the investigation of death and how he or she reconstructs the biological nature of an individual from a skeleton. The first section, Preliminary Considerations, includes chapters on history, the role of the expert witness, handling skeletal remains, human and animal remains, burned bones, and judging time and cause of death. General Skeletal Traits presents data on attribution of sex and race and on estimation.
Biocultural or biosocial anthropology is a research approach that views biology and culture as dialectically and inextricably intertwined, explicitly emphasizing the dynamic interaction between humans and their larger social, cultural, and physical environments. The biocultural approach emerged in anthropology in the 1960s, matured in the 1980s, and is now one of the dominant paradigms in anthropology, particularly within biological anthropology. This volume gathers contributions from the top scholars in biocultural anthropology focusing on six of the most influential, productive, and important areas of research within biocultural anthropology. These are: critical and synthetic approaches within biocultural anthropology; biocultural approaches to identity, including race and racism; health, diet, and nutrition; infectious disease from antiquity to the modern era; epidemiologic transitions and population dynamics; and inequality and violence studies. Focusing on these six major areas of burgeoning research within biocultural anthropology makes the proposed volume timely, widely applicable and useful to scholars engaging in biocultural research and students interested in the biocultural approach, and synthetic in its coverage of contemporary scholarship in biocultural anthropology. Students will be able to grasp the history of the biocultural approach, and how that history continues to impact scholarship, as well as the scope of current research within the approach, and the foci of biocultural research into the future. Importantly, contributions in the text follow a consistent format of a discussion of method and theory relative to a particular aspect of the above six topics, followed by a case study applying the surveyed method and theory. This structure will engage students by providing real world examples of anthropological issues, and demonstrating how biocultural method and theory can be used to elucidate and resolve them. Key features include: Contributions which span the breadth of approaches and topics within biological anthropology from the insights granted through work with ancient human remains to those granted through collaborative research with contemporary peoples. Comprehensive treatment of diverse topics within biocultural anthropology, from human variation and adaptability to recent disease pandemics, the embodied effects of race and racism, industrialization and the rise of allergy and autoimmune diseases, and the sociopolitics of slavery and torture. Contributions and sections united by thematically cohesive threads. Clear, jargon-free language in a text that is designed to be pedagogically flexible: contributions are written to be both understandable and engaging to both undergraduate and graduate students. Provision of synthetic theory, method and data in each contribution. The use of richly contextualized case studies driven by empirical data. Through case-study driven contributions, each chapter demonstrates how biocultural approaches can be used to better understand and resolve real-world problems and anthropological issues.
The notion of a superior ‘Germanic’ or ‘Nordic’ race was a central theme in Nazi ideology. But it was also a commonly accepted idea in the early twentieth century, an actual scientific concept originating from anthropological research on the physical characteristics of Europeans. The Scandinavian Peninsula was considered to be the historical cradle and the heartland of this ‘master race’. Measuring the Master Race investigates the role played by Scandinavian scholars in inventing this so-called superior race, and discusses how the concept stamped Norwegian physical anthropology, prehistory, national identity and the eugenics movement. It also explores the decline and scientific discrediting of these ideas in the 1930s as they came to be associated with the genetic cleansing of Nazi Germany. This is the first comprehensive study of Norwegian physical anthropology. Its findings shed new light on current political and scientific debates about race across the globe.
