Intro to death investigations Flashcards
A death investigator’s aim is to determine
Mechanism, cause, and classification of death
Medicolegal death investigators are responsible for
All sudden, unexplained, unexpected, or unattended deaths
Goal of forensic anthropology is
Identification
Investigating coroner determines
Identity of deceased, location and time of death, cause and classification of death
The forensic anthropology protocol
- Are remains human?
- Is this one person or more?
- Timing of death?
- What age were they?
- What is their sex?
- What is their height/physique?
- What is their ancestry?
- Do they have any unusual features?
- Is there sign of a cause and circumstance of death?
- What happened to body afterward?
- Can you identify this person?
Sources of variation in skeleton?
Body size, geographical variation, age, sex at birth, personal history
Sexual dimorphism in humans
Males have greater mass and more robust bones, females stop growing earlier, lose bone mass more readily, have wider pelves
Secondary ossification centres consist of
Carpals and epiphyses
Bone modelling
Produces adult size and shape
Bone remodelling
Subtly alters size and shape
Steps of bone remodelling
- Hematoma formation
- Fibrocartilaginous callus formation
- Bony callus formation
- Bone remodelling
Wolff’s Law
Bones’ shape and size influenced by magnitude and direction of mechanical stimulus, tissue is lost without adequate mechanical stimulation
Presumptive identification
Consistent but not exclusive to one person
Positive identification
Info about unidentified person is exclusive to only one individual
Collective identification
Info about unidentified person matches to a collective identity (ie cultural group, etc)
