GeneaoLisa
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So I thought I would offer some info that may be useful to websleuths!
NOTE: I am NOT a forensic anthropologist. I am an Anthropological Archaeologist and I teach basic skeletal identification methods at the university level.
Here is a brief lecture I put together for an introductory class. You can watch it on youtube:
How do forensic anthropologists determine the age of a skeleton?
- Age is EXTREMELY variable, especially as people age.
- For children who still have their baby teeth, we can pretty accurately age them within about 18 months to 2 years based on how developed their teeth are
- By the time children start puberty, there are different parts of your long bones that begin to fuse. This happens at a fairly predictable rate, but can be effected by environment, health, etc. There are usually clear differences in fusion patterns between a say 15 year old and a 17 year old, but fusion patterns vary by age. The patterns vary by sex as well.
- By the time you get to adulthood, aging is much harder. Once all of the bones are fused in your late 20's, the other features we can look at are tooth wear (but this is highly variable) and cranial sutures (but again, highly variable).
What does this mean for sleuthing?
- Don't immediately rule a case out based solely on age. There is a lot of variability, so keep that in mind. If you are looking for someone who was, say 20 when they were missing, depending on their specific skeletal structure, they could be interpreted as young as 16 or as old as 40 and vice versa.
How do forensic anthropologists determine if a skeleton is male or female?
- It is NOT always clear cut. In fact, most of the time, there is a lot of overlap between male and female skeletons. Think of it like a bell curve. Most people fall in the middle of the bell curve.
- The major features to look at are the pelvis, but there are also indications in the skull as well. If you want the specifics, you can message me.
- Any children who have not reached puberty will not show skeletal signs of sex
What does this mean for sleuthing?
- Pay attention to those remains that are either unidentified as either male or female
- Depending on the specific bones found, a determination of male or female may be more or less accurate. For example, if sex is determined because the pelvis was recovered, that is more likely to be accurate, but if sex is determined solely based on a mandible or part of a cranium, there is a lot more room for error.
How do forensic anthropologists determine race?
- This is really difficult and is becoming more disputed and irrelevant.
- The basic idea is that groups of people with ancestry from certain parts of the world tend to have certain features. For example, people with African ancestry are more likely to have a prognathic mouth, people with Native American ancestry are more likely to have flattened zygomatics, etc. There are about 45 different skeletal measurements that can be taken, and then those are compared to averages from different populations. Most people have features from multiple ancestral groups so it is problematic to say, unequivocally, that a particular skeleton is solely Caucasian. This can be mitigated by genetic testing.
Recent examination of some of the metrics that have been used in the past have shown high levels of inaccuracy, especially in the metrics used for Hispanic women.
What does this mean for sleuthing?
- Don't immediately discount remains that may be from a different race, especially if race was determined based on bones only.
- Here is an example: Many people with Asian descent have shovel shaped incisors, but those with Native American descent (and Hispanic individuals who have Native American descent) also tend to have shovel shaped incisors, increasing the possibility for misidentification.
I hope this helps your sleuthing! Send me a message if you want more info!
NOTE: I am NOT a forensic anthropologist. I am an Anthropological Archaeologist and I teach basic skeletal identification methods at the university level.
Here is a brief lecture I put together for an introductory class. You can watch it on youtube:
How do forensic anthropologists determine the age of a skeleton?
- Age is EXTREMELY variable, especially as people age.
- For children who still have their baby teeth, we can pretty accurately age them within about 18 months to 2 years based on how developed their teeth are
- By the time children start puberty, there are different parts of your long bones that begin to fuse. This happens at a fairly predictable rate, but can be effected by environment, health, etc. There are usually clear differences in fusion patterns between a say 15 year old and a 17 year old, but fusion patterns vary by age. The patterns vary by sex as well.
- By the time you get to adulthood, aging is much harder. Once all of the bones are fused in your late 20's, the other features we can look at are tooth wear (but this is highly variable) and cranial sutures (but again, highly variable).
What does this mean for sleuthing?
- Don't immediately rule a case out based solely on age. There is a lot of variability, so keep that in mind. If you are looking for someone who was, say 20 when they were missing, depending on their specific skeletal structure, they could be interpreted as young as 16 or as old as 40 and vice versa.
How do forensic anthropologists determine if a skeleton is male or female?
- It is NOT always clear cut. In fact, most of the time, there is a lot of overlap between male and female skeletons. Think of it like a bell curve. Most people fall in the middle of the bell curve.
- The major features to look at are the pelvis, but there are also indications in the skull as well. If you want the specifics, you can message me.
- Any children who have not reached puberty will not show skeletal signs of sex
What does this mean for sleuthing?
- Pay attention to those remains that are either unidentified as either male or female
- Depending on the specific bones found, a determination of male or female may be more or less accurate. For example, if sex is determined because the pelvis was recovered, that is more likely to be accurate, but if sex is determined solely based on a mandible or part of a cranium, there is a lot more room for error.
How do forensic anthropologists determine race?
- This is really difficult and is becoming more disputed and irrelevant.
- The basic idea is that groups of people with ancestry from certain parts of the world tend to have certain features. For example, people with African ancestry are more likely to have a prognathic mouth, people with Native American ancestry are more likely to have flattened zygomatics, etc. There are about 45 different skeletal measurements that can be taken, and then those are compared to averages from different populations. Most people have features from multiple ancestral groups so it is problematic to say, unequivocally, that a particular skeleton is solely Caucasian. This can be mitigated by genetic testing.
Recent examination of some of the metrics that have been used in the past have shown high levels of inaccuracy, especially in the metrics used for Hispanic women.
What does this mean for sleuthing?
- Don't immediately discount remains that may be from a different race, especially if race was determined based on bones only.
- Here is an example: Many people with Asian descent have shovel shaped incisors, but those with Native American descent (and Hispanic individuals who have Native American descent) also tend to have shovel shaped incisors, increasing the possibility for misidentification.
I hope this helps your sleuthing! Send me a message if you want more info!