Forensic Anthropology. Current Methods and Practice

445 Pages·2014·50.9 MB·English

by  Angi M. Christensen

Forensic Anthropology
Current Methods and Practice
Angi M. Christensen
Nicholas V. Passalacqua
Eric J. Bartelink
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Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment
may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating
and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such
information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including
parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
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Foreword
Forensic anthropology represents a complex and rapidly evolving field of science.
Case applications are diverse, including evidence recovery, estimating the biological
profile, evaluating time since death, reporting evidence of foul play, and contributing
to positive identification. Each of these many specialized areas has its own methodol-
ogy, supporting scientific literature, and limitations. Such diversity can prove chal-
lenging both to those entering the field and established practitioners who must defend
their interpretations in the legal arena.
This textbook represents a welcomed and much needed addition to the supporting
literature in forensic anthropology. Written by three experienced forensic anthro-
pologists working in different laboratory settings, the volume places the practice of
forensic anthropology within the context of contemporary forensic science and the
scientific principles of modern physical anthropology and biology. Explanations of
the science involved are accompanied by case examples, profiles of some current
practitioners, and information on the training required. The volume offers not only a
detailed presentation of the many techniques involved in the practice of forensic
anthropology, but also a sense of the underlying science. Such perspective offers
readers a vital understanding of this rapidly changing field, as well as a comprehen-
sive view of its content.
Douglas H. Ubelaker
xi
Preface
The principle rationale for writing this textbook was the perceived need for a com-
prehensive introductory text that approaches forensic anthropology as a modern and
well-developed science. This effort includes consideration of forensic anthropology
within the broader forensic science community, extensive use of case studies, and
discussion of the most recent research, technology, and challenges in the field.
We approached this through an innovative style, using ground truths and case
experience from our varied backgrounds and current practices as working forensic
anthropologists. This book is not intended as a technical manual, but as a scientific
text designed to guide the reader through the various components of forensic anthropol-
ogy. We present principles at a level that is appropriate for those new to the field, while
at the same time incorporating evolutionary, biomechanical, and other theoretical
explanations for the features and phenomena observed. We believe that the student or
aspiring practitioner should not only be able to detect, measure, and evaluate relevant
features of the skeleton, but should also appreciate the scientific principles that under-
pin them and their variants. This text is also distinctive for its inclusion of topics such
as requirements for practicing forensic anthropology, the types of jobs that are available
to the aspiring practitioner, and how students can become more involved in the field.
In addition, this text presents current perspectives and developments, including the
incorporation of “best practices” as identified by the Scientific Working Group for
Forensic Anthropology (SWGANTH). Although seminal works are noted, attention is
given primarily to the most recent and most scientifically valid applications commonly
employed by working forensic anthropologists. Some of these new techniques are sig-
nificantly more complex than traditional forensic anthropological approaches, but we
believe that their inclusion is important, so that the student is aware of the breadth and
scope of the field, is informed about innovative techniques in the discipline, and is
prepared by understanding the necessary background of those who practice in the field
today (for example, a strong background in metric analysis and statistics).
This text is well-suited for introductory or upper level courses in forensic anthro-
pology, including courses taught in anthropology programs as well as those taught in
the growing number of forensic science programs. This text can stand alone in a foren-
sic anthropology course. It would also serve as an appropriate supplemental reference
for other courses involving human identification or skeletal biology, or as a supplemen-
tal text for a human osteology course. Although we do not see this text as a primary
professional reference for practicing forensic anthropologists, it could serve as a gen-
eral reference for professionals with little or no training in forensic anthropology,
including physical anthropologists trained in other areas of the field (such as paleoan-
thropology or primatology), archaeologists, forensic scientists, dentists, pathologists,
crime and death scene investigators, law enforcement, and legal professionals.
This text is applicable to coursework in forensic anthropology and archaeology
internationally. Although some aspects are US-specific (e.g., the US legal system),
the vast majority of the material in the text is internationally applicable and is
xiii
xiv Preface
therefore suitable for a forensic anthropology course in countries outside the United
States. Further, this text addresses issues of international forensic anthropological
relevance including armed conflict and human rights investigations.
We thoroughly enjoyed collaborating on this text, and feel that the use of mul-
tiple authors working in different settings to write a textbook helps mitigate the
biases, errors, and misconceptions that may result from a single-authored text or
those originating from authors from the same institution. We believe that instruc-
tors and students will find this text comprehensive, practical, and relevant to cur-
rent practices in the discipline of forensic anthropology. While we strived to keep
the cost of this text down by printing all figures in black and white, we appreciate
the value of color images for both instruction and comprehension. We have there-
fore made all images available in color (where applicable) at the following website:
http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780124186712/.
We would like our readers to know that we welcome any comments, feedback, or
suggestions from our colleagues as well as students utilizing this text. It is clear that
the field of forensic anthropology is dynamic, and like all good sciences, is in a con-
stant state of revision and advancement. We also appreciate that backgrounds and
views differ, and that understanding and teaching the principles of forensic anthro-
pology is improved through sharing and discussing different perspectives. We wel-
come such discourse from any source.
There are many whose assistance and contributions we would like to acknowledge.
The following individuals and institutions provided access to specimens and/or con-
tributed figures, images, or case material which was incorporated throughout the text:
Bradley Adams and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – New York City; Bruce
Anderson and the Pima County Office of Medical Examiner; Gail Anderson, Lynne
Bell, and the Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS); Lisa Bright;
Craig Brodfuehrer; Gil Brogdon; Nicole Burt; Cristina Cattaneo; Karen Cebra;
Christian Crowder and Amy Beresheim; Dennis Dirkmaat; Shuala Drawdy and the
International Committee of the Red Cross; Todd Fenton; Karen Gardner; Rich Graf;
Gary Hatch and the Radiology-Pathology Center for Forensic Imaging, University of
New Mexico School of Medicine; Joe Hefner; Kevin Horn; David Hunt and the
National Museum of Natural History; Rebecca Hurst; Richard Jantz, Lee Jantz and the
University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center; the Joint POW/MIA Account-
ing Command Central Identification Laboratory; Elias Kontanis and the National
Transportation Safety Board; Thomas Lera and the National Postal Museum; J ennifer
Love, Jason Wiersema, and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences; Audrey
Meehan; Rebecca Meeusen; Diana Messer and Valerie Andrushko; Frank Bayham,
Kevin Dalton, Turhon Murad, Colleen Milligan, P. Willey, and the Department of
Anthropology at California State University, Chico; Amy Mundorff; Elayne Pope;
Rich Press; Chris Rainwater; Garrett Reismann; Paul Sledzik; Brian Spatola and the
National Museum of Health and Medicine; Kate S pradley and Texas State University
– San Marcos; Mikylee Vaughan; Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner;
Roland Wessling; and Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.
We would also like to express our appreciation for our great many other col-
leagues, friends, and family members who provided valuable reviews, guidance, and
support for this work. Thank you.
Author Biographies
Angi M. Christensen, PhD, D-ABFA
Angi M. Christensen is a Forensic Anthropologist
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Lab-
oratory in Quantico, Virginia. Her primary responsi-
bilities include conducting forensic anthropological
casework and providing training for FBI agents and
other law enforcement personnel, and she facili-
tated the development of the FBI’s Forensic
Anthropology Program. She is also an Adjunct
Professor in the Forensic Science Program at
George Mason University.
Angi received her BA in Anthropology at the
University of Washington in Seattle, WA (1997),
and her MA and PhD in Anthropology at the Uni-
versity of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN (2000 and
2003). Her research interests include methods of
personal identification, trauma analysis, elemental
analysis, and underwater taphonomy. She has pub-
lished articles in Journal of Forensic Sciences, American Journal of Physical Anthro-
pology, Forensic Science International, Journal of Anatomy, and Forensic Science
Communications.
Angi is a board certified Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthro-
pology, a Fellow in the Physical Anthropology Section of the American Academy of
Forensic Sciences, and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Scientific Working
Group for Forensic Anthropology.
Nicholas V. Passalacqua, PhD
Nick Passalacqua is a deploying Forensic Anthropolo-
gist with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Com-
mand’s Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC
CIL). Nick received his BA in Anthropology at
Michigan State University in 2005, his MS in Anthro-
pology from Mercyhurst College (now Mercyhurst
University) in 2007, another MA in Anthropology
from Michigan State University in 2011, and his PhD
in Anthropology from Michigan State in 2012.
Prior to his work at the JPAC CIL, Nick served
as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Legal Medicine – North Branch (Porto,
Portugal); worked as a bioarchaeologist for the Medieval Spanish archaeological sites
xv
xvi Author Biographies
of the Castro de Chao Samartín, Iglesia de El Salvador, and San Julian de Viñon;
instructed mass fatality incident response courses for the Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Agency (PEMA); assisted for numerous years in Mercyhurst Universi-
ty’s summer short courses in forensic anthropology; and instructed for three semesters
of anthropology courses as adjunct faculty at Lansing Community College.
Nick’s research interests include age-at-death estimation, skeletal trauma and
taphonomy, paleodemography, and paleopathology. His bioarchaeological dis-
sertation research focused on issues of health and demography in Medieval
Asturias, Spain. Nick has publications in such journals as Journal of Forensic
Sciences, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, and American Journal of
Physical Anthropology. He has also contributed chapters in such books as: The
analysis of burned human remains, Age estimation of the human skeleton, and
A companion to forensic anthropology.
Eric J. Bartelink, PhD, D-ABFA
Eric J. Bartelink is an Associate Professor in the
Department of Anthropology and Director of the
Human Identification Laboratory at California
State University, Chico. He received his BS in
Anthropology at Central Michigan University
(1995), his MA in Anthropology at California State
University, Chico (2001), and his PhD in Anthro-
pology at Texas A&M University (2006). He
became the 89th Diplomate of the American Board
of Forensic Anthropology in 2012. Eric’s interests
are in forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology,
and he has conducted research focused on skeletal
trauma, taphonomy, paleopathology, and stable
isotope analysis. He has conducted an extensive research program focused on central
California bioarchaeology, and also conducted work in American Samoa. In 2000, he
assisted with the excavation of mass graves in Bosnia-Herzegovina through the
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and also
assisted in the identification of victims from the World Trade Center 9/11 disaster in
2002 and 2003. He has published articles in Journal of Forensic Sciences, American
Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of Archaeological Science, International
Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory,
Archaeometry, and California Archaeology.
Eric teaches courses in introductory physical anthropology, human osteology,
forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, forensic science, and statistics. He is Fellow
of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and a member of the American
Association of Physical Anthropologists, Society of American Archaeology, Paleo-
pathology Association, and the Society for California Archaeology. He is a current
board member of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology and the
American Board of Forensic Anthropology.
CHAPTER
1
Introduction
A human skeleton is discovered by hikers in the woods. A body that is burned
beyond recognition is delivered to the morgue. Fractures found on the bones of
an accident victim are inconsistent with witness accounts of the event. An airline
disaster has resulted in the fragmentation and dispersion of numerous body parts.
Victims of a war crime are discovered in a clandestine grave. These diverse and
challenging cases all have something in common: they are all within the purview of
forensic anthropology. This chapter introduces the field of forensic anthropology,
and highlights the roles and responsibilities of working forensic anthropologists
today.
1.1 Forensic anthropology
Anthropology is a broad field, defined as the study of humankind (from the
Greek anthropos “man” and logia “study”). Anthropology is generally consid-
ered to consist of four primary subdisciplines: cultural anthropology, linguistic
anthropology, archaeology, and physical anthropology. Cultural (also referred
to as socio-cultural or social) anthropology is the study of human cultural varia-
tion, including aspects of social organization, subsistence practices, economics,
politics, conflict, technology, and religion, among others. Linguistic anthropol-
ogy is the study of human communication, including differences across time and
space, and how language systems affect human culture and behavior. Archaeology
is the study of past human cultures through the materials left behind. Material
culture can include artifacts (e.g., tools), ecofacts (e.g., skeletal remains, food
refuse), and features (e.g., remains of buildings and other structures). Archaeolo-
gists often use cultural and evolutionary theories to test hypotheses against the
archaeological record.
Physical (or biological) anthropology is the study of the evolution and diversity
of primates, especially the human lineage. This is accomplished through the study
of comparative anatomy, and the study of human and non-human primate variation
(e.g., morphology and genetics) and behavior. Many physical anthropologists focus
specifically on skeletal biology, or the study of the anatomy and biology of the
skeleton (which includes the bones and teeth). Skeletal biologists often specialize
in broad areas such as functional morphology, bioarchaeology, paleopathology,
and forensic anthropology.
Forensic Anthropology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-418671-2.00001-X 1
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
2 CHAPTER 1 Introduction
Forensic anthropology is considered to be an applied subfield of physical anthro-
pology and can be defined as the application of anthropological method and theory
to matters of legal concern, particularly those that relate to the recovery and analysis
of the skeleton. The practice of forensic anthropology often involves estimating the
sex, ancestry, age, and stature from skeletal material from unknown individuals. This
summary of estimated biological parameters is referred to as the biological profile,
which is compared to missing persons records in an attempt to identify the person
to whom the skeletal remains belong. Forensic anthropologists also specialize in the
search for and recovery of human remains, the analysis of skeletal trauma and other
alterations which may be relevant to the individual’s cause and manner of death, and
the facilitation of personal identification through the recognition of traits and features
that may be associated with a particular individual.
1.2 History of forensic anthropology
Forensic anthropology is still considered to be a relatively young scientific discipline,
with four temporal eras that are generally recognized to mark certain periods of devel-
opment (Stewart, 1979; Thompson, 1982; Sledzik et al., 2007). Prior to the 1940s, the
practice of forensic anthropology was limited to anatomists, physicians, and some physi-
cal anthropologists who worked primarily as university professors or museum curators
and occasionally consulted on skeletonized remains cases for law enforcement. During
this formative period, there was no formal instruction in forensic applications of physical
anthropology and little published research. With regard to medicolegal applications of
the discipline, practitioners were either informally trained or self-taught, and played only
a limited role in cases of medicolegal significance. It was during this time that Thomas
Dwight (1843–1911), a Harvard anatomy professor, became the first to extensively pub-
lish works on topics that would become the foundation of forensic anthropology, includ-
ing methods of estimating sex, age, and stature from the skeleton. His award-winning
essay, The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medicolegal Study (1878), along with
many other publications related to human anatomy and forensic anthropology, helped
earn Thomas Dwight the title of “Father of Forensic Anthropology in the United States.”
From the 1940s to the early 1970s, attention from medicolegal and military agencies
increased, with recognition of the utility of forensic anthropology in the identification
of deceased service members from WWII and the Korean War. Important anthropologi-
cal events of this time included two works by Wilton Marion Krogman (1903–1987):
Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material (1939) and The Human Skel-
eton in Forensic Medicine (1962). This period also saw an increase in development of
forensic anthropological methods based on the skeletal remains of deceased soldiers.
Many of these early studies form the basis of methods still in use today.
From the 1970s to 1990s, the field became increasingly professionalized,
particularly with the establishment of the Physical Anthropology section of the
American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 (see Box 1.1), and the creation
of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 1977 (see Box 1.2). Another
1.3 Forensic anthropology today 3
BOX 1.1 THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
Founded in 1948, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is a professional
society dedicated to the application of science to the law, the promotion of education,
and the elevation of accuracy, precision and specificity in the forensic sciences ( American
Academy of Forensic Sciences, 2012). As of the time of this writing, the AAFS member-
ship includes more than 6000 members representing all 50 United States and more than
60 other countries worldwide. Members are divided into eleven sections representing
the scientific disciplines of Criminalistics, Digital and Multimedia Sciences, Engineering
Sciences, General, Jurisprudence, Odontology, Pathology/Biology, Physical Anthropology,
Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Questioned Documents, and Toxicology. The AAFS
holds annual meetings each February and has its own internationally recognized journal,
The Journal of Forensic Sciences.
The Physical Anthropology section was added to the AAFS membership in 1972, when
interest among physical anthropologists was sufficient to meet the minimum membership
requirements. More information about AAFS including membership can be found at
www.aafs.org.
BOX 1.2 THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
The American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA) was incorporated in 1977 as a
non-profit organization to provide a program of certification in forensic anthropology,
recognizing certified Diplomates for their qualifications and for meeting standards set
forth by the ABFA (American Board of Forensic Anthropology, 2012). As of the time of this
writing, 99 forensic anthropologists have been board certified, with approximately 70 being
currently active. More information about the ABFA including certification requirements can
be found at www.theabfa.org.
significant work, Essentials of Forensic Anthropology (1979) by T. Dale Stewart
(1901–1997), was one of a growing number of publications in the field. There
was also a significant increase in research, employment, acceptance by the foren-
sic community, and establishment of graduate programs that specialize in forensic
anthropology.
1.3 Forensic anthropology today
Today, forensic anthropology is a well-established forensic discipline that has
experienced a recent and significant expansion in attention and breadth, facilitated
in large part by increased public, media, and professional interest (see Box 1.3).
There has been an enormous increase in research and publications in the field,
coupled with the development of numerous graduate programs with curricula spe-
cifically tailored to prepare students for careers in forensic anthropology. The for-
mation of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology in 2008 marked
the discipline’s recognition of the need to formulate and codify standard practices
(Box 1.4).