Forensic Osteology

Introduction: Accurate estimation of the early post-mortem interval (PMI) is crucial in forensic investigations but remains challenging. Rigor mortis is a key early PMI indicator, yet its progression is influenced by numerous factors, with the specific impact of different modes of death not fully characterized, particularly in tropical environments. Aim: This study aimed to investigate and compare the kinetics of rigor mortis progression in a porcine model subjected to five distinct perimortem trauma conditions in a tropical savannah climate. Methods: Five mature domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) were sedated and subjected to one trauma each: stabbing, strangulation, poisoning, blunt force trauma (cranial), or drowning. Following death confirmation, each carcass was placed in a protective cage. Rigor mortis was assessed through frequent physical examination, with times recorded for onset, full rigidity, and complete resolution. Results: Marked variation in rigor mortis kinetics was observed between trauma types. The most rapid onset (30 minutes post-mortem) and resolution (26 hours 27 minutes) occurred with blunt force trauma. The most delayed onset (2 hours 30 minutes) was from stabbing, while drowning resulted in the most prolonged resolution (57 hours 40 minutes). Strangulation and poisoning produced intermediate timelines. Conclusion: Perimortem trauma type significantly alters the progression of rigor mortis in a tropical climate. These findings underscore that the circumstances of death must be considered when applying rigor mortis for early PMI estimation to avoid substantial error, highlighting the need for context-aware forensic models.

High-resolution computed tomography and published forensic reports of the mummies/crania of the Egyptian pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II (17th Dynasty, ca. 1558 BC) and King Richard III of England (d. 1485 AD) reveal a striking congruence in perimortem sharp-force trauma. Both individuals sustained three lethal wounds in identical sequence and laterality: 1. a massive horizontal cleaving injury to the right frontal/parietal region with orbital involvement, 2. a secondary horizontal blade strike severing the right zygomatic-maxillary complex, and 3. a final penetrating stab entering posterior to the right mastoid process and terminating at the cranial base. All wounds were inflicted while the victim's head was tilted backward and to the left, with complete absence of defensive injuries to the upper limbs. The anatomical precision, directional consistency, and chronological separation of 3 043 years present a forensic pattern that is, to date, without published parallel. This paper documents the lesions, quantifies the degree of similarity, and discusses the statistical improbability of independent occurrence.

The practice of cremation is often interpreted as an alternative to inhumation, taking place shortly after an individual’s death. However, cremation could be a final stage in complex mortuary practices, with previous steps that are obscured due to the heating process. This project reports on experimental scoping research on a set of experimentally heated femoral fragments from modern and archaeological collections of the University of Coimbra. Sixteen recent femur samples from eight individuals, as well as five femur samples from an archaeological skeleton from the medieval-modern cemetery found at the Hospital de Santo António (Porto), were included in this research. Samples presented five different conditions: unburnt, and burnt at maximum temperatures of 300 °C, 500 °C, 700 °C and 900 °C. Each sample was prepared to allow observation using binocular transmitted light microscopes with ×10, ×25 and ×40 magnifications. Results indicated that, if burial led to bioerosion, this will r...

In 1976, Diana Russell described the term "Femicide" as the violent death of a woman (girls, adolescents, and women) at a man's hands simply because she is a woman, whether or not there is a relationship between the aggressor and the victim. This term in English will be adapted in Latin America by the Mexican anthropologist Marcela Lagarde, who will convert it into "Feminicide." The difference between these two terms has been the subject of much discussion, and to date, there is no complete consensus on the theoretical de nition of both terms, and they are even used as synonyms. However, at present, there are already some conceptual parameters to establish a differentiation, from which "Femicide" would refer to "those deaths of women that were caused by actions or omissions that do not necessarily constitute a crime" (Toledo, 2009, p. 26), either because they did not have the explicit intention of killing them or because such acts cannot be imputed to a speci c person since they are actions arising from customs that obey cultural norms that still exist from past times or that are dictated by religious precepts. According to this de nition, this term would not necessarily be characterized by hatred toward women. On the other hand, "Feminicide" would refer to the "intentional homicide of a woman for misogynistic motives" (Toledo, 2009, p. 27), accompanied by any type of gender violence (rape, antemortem or postmortem physical mutilation, or any other physical aggression). In the latter case, the psychological autopsy, based on information provided by the victim's close associates, often reveals a history of violence in the victim's family or work environment.

E l l e g a d o d e J u a n C o ma s e n l a a n t r o p o l o g í a f í s i c a me x i c a n a A l o s c u a r e n t a a ñ o s d e s u f a l l e c i mi e n t o E l l e g a d o d e J u a n C o ma s e n l a a n t r o p o l o g í a f í s i c a me x i c a n a A l o s c u a r e n t a a ñ o s d e s u f a l l e c i mi e n t o E l l e g a d o d e J u a n C o ma s e n l a a n t r o p o l o g í a f í s i c a me x i c a n a A l o s c u a r e n t a a ñ o s d e s u f a l l e c i mi e n t o An t r o p ó l o g o d e d i me n s i ó n u n i v e r s a l , J u a n C o ma s Ca mp s n o s l e g ó u n a i mp o r t a n t e o b r a e n e n d i f e r e n t e s á r e a s d e l a d i s c i p l i n a . S u c o n t r i b uc i ó n h a s i d o p a r t i c u l a r me n t e r e l e v a n t e p a r a e l d e s a r r o l l o d e l a a n t r o p o l o g í a b i o l ó g i c a me x i c a n a . S u t r a b a j o c o mo i n v e s t i g a d o r , d o c e n t e y d i v u l g ad o r d e l o s g r a n d e s t e ma s b i o a n t r o p o l ó g i c o s c o n t i n ú a s i e n d o u n a f u e n t e d e e s t í mu l o e n e l q u e h a c e r a c t u a l d e l a d i s c i p l i n a . Ca r l o s S e r r a n o S á n c h e z y An a J u l i a Ag u i r r e S a mu d i o E d i t o r e s Ca r l o s S e r r a n o S á n c h e z An a J u l i a Ag u i r r e S a mu d i o

Remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a range of pedagogical challenges for anthropology laboratory courses. In biological anthropology courses such as Human Osteology, hands-on experience is essential to achieving learning outcomes, including basic bone and feature (i.e., landmark) identification, identification from fragmentary remains, and age and sex estimation. To address the need for training that includes object-based, tactile (haptic) learning in fields such as biological anthropology and archaeology, all Human Osteology students at Mount Royal University and the University of Manitoba took home plastic model skeletons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how well remotely educated undergraduates (REU) met human osteology learning objectives when supported by plastic model skeletons at home. We present the results of a survey designed to test core osteological skills obtained by REUs in comparison with undergraduates educated with in-person laboratory components (IPU), and experts in the field (0-4 and 5+ years of experience). REU scores did not differ significantly from those of IPU or Junior Experts with less than 5 years of experience. Students performed well in bone identification but were limited in their ability to apply common sex and age estimation methods and to identify incomplete elements. Our findings reinforce the importance of haptic learning and years of experience in human osteological learning. They support the use of takehome models as valuable resources in both remote and in-person undergraduate teaching. This work is a step toward more inclusive universal instructional design that can be applied across various anthropology laboratory courses.

During research, stranding records, population management and conservation programs directed to sea-lions, it is common to have mislabeled and non-identified specimens. In the easttern South American coast, identification of pinniped species is an important issue as both sea-lions and fur seals live together in the same territories, share the same reproductive periods and breeding grounds, and face the same problems in their environment. We have established a method for identification and differentiation of South American sea-lion (Otaria flavescens) and South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis gracilis) to be used under field conditions on both free-ranging and stranded specimens, including its application on cases when the animal body has been mutilated or is partially destroyed. This method is based on both external and internal morphological and anatomical characteristics. The method describes specific features found in each species recognizing rostrum and head; fur length, color and distribution; sexual physical development; body biometry and bone differences. Comparative charts for identification and differentiation by age and gender are also included. This method has been successfully used to identify South American sea-lions (n=135) and South American fur seals (n=25) recorded in ORCA’s Stranding Network recently created in Peru. Our work is directed to be used as an operational tool and guide for students, researchers, local authorities and local fishermen communities to develop an accurate identification record for both species along the coast.

AIM The present work aimed to evaluate age-related variations in the dental pulp chamber volume of second molars using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging, in order to establish a specific mathematical model for second molars and measure its accuracy, especially in the case of Egyptian adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS From 187 subjects between 21-50 years of age, CBCT images of 257 maxillary and 248 mandibular second molars were included. A mathematical model for human age estimation was established. An independent additional set of CBCT images was obtained to test the model's accuracy. RESULTS For maxillary and mandibular teeth, R2 for the pooled sexes were 0.51 and 0.52, and SEE were 5.92 and 5.71, respectively. A model for each sex was established, due to the significant difference between them, where R2 was equal to 0.668 and 0.650 in males and 0.46 and 0.48 in females, concerning maxillary and mandibular teeth, respectively. When testing the validation samples, the mea...

The present study examines the demographic and epidemiological characteristics of blunt trauma chests in patients brought to the mortuary of the Department of Forensic Medicine at IMS, BHU, Varanasi for postmortem examination. The death rate from chest trauma is 10%. Falls from heights, violent falls from construction sites, falls from buildings that are still under construction, modern fast cars, lack of awareness of traffic safety rules, and poor road conditions have all contributed to a sharp rise in the prevalence. The frequency of fatalities attributable to chest injuries is increasing annually. This demonstrated the impact of preventive, social, medical, economic, and political measures in reducing the burden of thoracic trauma. Thus, knowing the problem is one of the first stages towards bringing it to light and finding a solution. This study aims to investigate the most neglected aspect of human suffering. An attempt is being made to decipher the pattern of blunt trauma to the chest and to elucidate the various causes that are responsible for the rise in instances of common blunt trauma. In this study, the epidemiology and demographic traits of 300 instances of bluntforce chest injuries are investigated. Most of them are male adults or middleaged people between the ages of 41 and 50 who have been involved in traffic accidents. Men to women are in a ratio of 7.1:1. Most incidents took place on highways.

Examination of three frozen bodies, a 13-y-old girl and a girl and boy aged 4 to 5 y, separately entombed near the Andean summit of Volcán Llullaillaco, Argentina, sheds new light on human sacrifice as a central part of the Imperial Inca capacocha rite, described by chroniclers writing after the Spanish conquest. The high-resolution diachronic data presented here, obtained directly from scalp hair, implies escalating coca and alcohol ingestion in the lead-up to death. These data, combined with archaeological and radiological evidence, deepen our understanding of the circumstances and context of final placement on the mountain top. We argue that the individuals were treated differently according to their age, status, and ritual role. Finally, we relate our findings to questions of consent, coercion, and/or compliance, and the controversial issues of ideological justification and strategies of social control and political legitimation pursued by the expansionist Inca state before Euro...

Introducción: El foramen magno es una estructura anatómicaubicada en la fosa posterior del cráneo. Este foramen adquiererelevancia en síndromes compresivos del sistema nervioso central,en el que se ven comprometidas la función neuronal y circulatoria.El objetivo del presente trabajo es determinar los valores morfométricos normales del foramen magno en individuos infantilesde ambos sexos a partir de estudios por imagen siendo el primerode esta índole en nuestra región.Material y métodos: Se trata de un estudio observacional, transversal y retrospectivo. Se analizaron 252 imágenes de tomografíacomputada helicoidal, obtenidas en individuos de 0 a 4 años deedad, de ambos sexos, sin patologías o lesiones que afecten lamorfología de la base del cráneo. Las imágenes forman parte delarchivo del Servicio de Neuroimágenes del Hospital de PediatríaS.A.M.I.C. Garrahan.Se estimaron el área, el diámetro y la longitud, y la forma delforamen magno. Para procesar las imágenes se utilizó el softwareA...

Introduction: The foramen magnum is an anatomical structure located in the posterior fossa of the skull. This foramen acquires relevance in the compressive syndromes of the central nervous system, in which neuronal and circulatory function are compromised. The objective of this study is to determine the normal morphometric values of foramen magnum in children of both sexes from imaging studies, being the first of its kind in our region. Materials and method: It is an observational, cross-sectional and retrospective study. We analyzed 252 images of helical computed tomography, obtained in individuals from 0 to 4 years of age, of both sexes, without pathologies or lesions that affect the morphology of the base of the skull. The images are part of the file of the Neuroimaging Service of the Hospital de Pediatría S.A.M.I.C. “Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan” (Buenos Aires). Morphometric measurements were used on the foramen magnum to estimate the area, the diameter and the length, in addition...

ing bone's growth and development, it is affected by intrinsic factors under genetic constraint and hormone. Extrinsic factors include biomechanical effects of load bearing and muscle forces acting on bone, nutritional status, activity levels and body mass [1]. The most reliable bones used for sex estimation are pelvis and skull, with an accuracy of 90% and 80%, respectively [2]. However, skeleton remains derived from forensic and archaeological contexts are rarely complete and undamaged [3]. Therefore, it is important to establish methods for sex estimation from other parts of skeleton. Cranial base was reported to be a survived structure in archeological skeletal remains [4]. Bony and dental structures of the palate are often preserved well in forensic contexts [5]. Maxillary sutures are one of the cranial sutures which are

Introduction: The knowledge of biometrics in the area of the foramen magnum is of importance in the pathophysiology of several disorders of the craniocervical junction, as well as for anthropology, anatomy and forensic medicine. The analysis of the area using image technology is still very scarce in the literature. Objective: Determine the area of the foramen magnum using ImageJ and correlate it with the areas calculated by the formulas of Radinsky and Teixeira. Methodology: 104 human dry skulls of adults were studied, 62 male and 42 female, belonging to the anatomy laboratories of the Universities: Tiradentes (UNIT) and Federal de Sergipe (UFS). To calculate the area of the foramen magnum, the ImageJ software was used, while the measures, length and width, were performed using a digital caliper. The areas calculated by ImageJ were compared to those calculated using the Radinsky and Teixeira formula. Results: The area of the foramen magnum measured by ImageJ ranged from 532.14 to 11...

Resumen Uno de los principales criterios para la estimación del sexo a partir restos óseos recuperados en contextos arqueológicos y/o forenses, es el análisis morfométrico a través de las funciones discriminantes. Estas han sido elaboradas para poblaciones norteamericanas y europeas, por lo que ofrecen un valor relativo en el porcentaje de asignación correcta si son aplicadas en otras poblaciones. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en testear las funciones discriminantes propuesta por Giles (1964) en una muestra local documentada. Para ello se seleccionaron 43 mandíbulas de ambos sexos provenientes de la colección osteológica Prof. Dr. Rómulo Lambre, alojada en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la UNLP. Se relevaron nueve medidas propuestas por el autor mediante técnicas de la morfometría tradicional. Posteriormente, se aplicaron tres funciones discriminantes desarrolladas a partir de una muestra de la colección Terry. El sexo estimado a través de las funciones fue contrastado con los datos documentados con el fin de establecer la validación de las mismas. Los resultados obtenidos tras la aplicación de las tres funciones discriminantes demuestran un alto porcentaje de asignaciones correctas para el sexo femenino, promediando un 94.4 %, por el contrario los guarismos obtenidos para el sexo masculino disminuyen notablemente a un 16.1 % de asignaciones correctas. Es decir, que los individuos masculinos fueron clasificados erróneamente en un 83.9%. En función de los resultados obtenidos creemos que la función propuesta por Giles no es válida para la población en estudio. Por lo que el desarrollo de una función discriminante específica para nuestra muestra nos permitiría realizar estimaciones más ajustadas.

Age, stature, sex, pathologies, and trauma, are all important features found on human skeletal remains that are used by anthropologists and forensic investigators to aid in criminal investigations and study demographic trends. Several osteological methods have been created to identify all of these features, however there is a margin of error for all of them, and their results vary vastly across different populations; due to cultural and lifestyle differences. The aim of this paper is to cover and compare a few of what are widely considered to currently be the most reliable osteological methods of developing a full osteological profile.

The practice of cremation is often interpreted as an alternative to inhumation, taking place shortly after an individual’s death. However, cremation could be a final stage in complex mortuary practices, with previous steps that are obscured due to the heating process. This project reports on experimental scoping research on a set of experimentally heated femoral fragments from modern and archaeological collections of the University of Coimbra. Sixteen recent femur samples from eight individuals, as well as five femur samples from an archaeological skeleton from the medieval-modern cemetery found at the Hospital de Santo António (Porto), were included in this research. Samples presented five different conditions: unburnt, and burnt at maximum temperatures of 300 °C, 500 °C, 700 °C and 900 °C. Each sample was prepared to allow observation using binocular transmitted light microscopes with ×10, ×25 and ×40 magnifications. Results indicated that, if burial led to bioerosion, this will r...

My thesis is about simplifying the process of bone identification for law enforcement. Usually, when a bone is found and thought to be human, it is documented then sent to a forensics lab or crime lab for identification. Instead of sending the actual bone, I believe that a photograph of the bone would be sufficient for identification. In this thesis I test the hypothesis that an expert in distinguishing human from non-human bones can make the same determination using photographs of the bones with a rate of accuracy that exceeds the 50% expected by chance alone. 1 also obtain an estimate of the actual accuracy of distinguishing human from non-human bones using photographs. I took 109 digital photographs of a mixture of human and non-human bones, and emailed them to the two experts who handle the majority of forensic anthropology cases in Montana. The two experts scored each bone as human or nonhuman. I then matched their identifications against the known species of the bones to deter...