Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Forensic Significance
“cradle boarding”
prehistoric societies
o Medical Prosthetics
Plates, screws.
o Dental modifications
Aesthetic/surgical practice
• Personal belongings
o What time period and such.
o Prehistoric
Stone tools, pottery
o Historic
o Contemporary
• Conditions of internment
o Is he buried, found in a pile, tossed in the back of a cave
o Body arrangement
o Direction of face
o Pretreatment?
o Burial enclosure
State of Preservation
• How the bone looks (Taphonomy)
o Color
Usually a yellowish color. After time it turns a bit white,
might get stained.
o Texture
Fresh bones are smooth. Like ivory. A little bit greasy
from the body fat. Over time it gets a bit rougher.
o Hydration
Newer bones have more water in it. It will be heavier as
well. Over time water leaks out of the bone. The dryer
the bone the longer the person’s been dead or the bone
has been outside.
o Weight
Fresh is heavier.
o Condition/fragmentation
o Fragility
Newer bone more solid. Not as fragile
o Amount of soft tissue
Osteometry
• Sex
• Ancestry
• Stature
Osteometric devices
• Osteometric board
• Spreading calipers
• Sliding calipers
• Mandibulometer
Osteometric Points
• Types
o Unpaired or unpaired
o
25/01/2008 12:52:00
25/01/2008 12:52:00