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Survey on the Use of the Biological Profile in Death Investigation and Human...

Seeking Symposium Proposals for Anthropology Section Scientific Program

Interpreting perimortem blast trauma from skeletal remains: Complications and...

Blast trauma results from highly variable events that can lead to similar effects in the skeleton. Clinical literature, which largely focuses on soft tissue, provides limited efficacy for interpreting fully skeletonized cases. Interpretation of skeletal blast trauma is hampered b...

Ballistic impact of hollow‐point ammunition on porcine bone

Identifying failure mechanisms in skeletal tissue allows a deeper understanding of the effects of specific projectile impacts on bone. While ballistic trauma in flat bones is largely researched, knowledge of how long bones react to gunshot impacts is limited in the literature. Th...

Evaluating expertise in forensic anthropology

The medicolegal system relies on the ability of experts and non‐experts alike to make judgments about expertise and use those judgments to reach consequential decisions. Given the lack of standard criteria, mandatory certification, or licensure for establishing expertise required...

Survey on the Scope of Taphonomy in Forensic Anthropology Case Reports

Do bone elasticity and postmortem interval affect forensic fractographic analyses?

Forensic fractographic features of bone reliably establish crack propagation in perimortem injuries. We investigated if similar fracture surface features characterize postmortem fractures. Experimentally induced peri‐ and postmortem fractures were used to assess if fractographic ...

2023 Anthropology Section Award Winners

Anthropology Section Deadline Reminder

Investigating error in saw mark minimum kerf width measurements

Minimum kerf width (MKW) is often assessed in medicolegal cases of skeletal sharp force trauma and can provide information about the tool used. Previously published saw MKW research focuses on the relationship between MKW and saw blade set width (width of the saw blade including ...

Reaching new heights: Testing the performance of metric approaches to estimate stature...

Bone heat‐induced changes complicate osteometric stature estimation of human remains from forensic settings. The validity of current methods has not been tested to a great extent. Our aim was to determine how precise are stature estimations obtained from three different approache...

Evaluation of the (hu)MANid program for sex and ancestry estimation in a diverse,...

Human remains from forensic and bioarcheological contexts are often fragmentary, requiring methods for estimating a forensic profile that are based upon limited skeletal features. In 2017, Berg and Keryhercz created an online application, (hu)MANid, that provides sex and ancestry...

Effects of a low‐velocity fluvial environment on saw mark evidence in bone

Saws are common tools used in postmortem dismemberment to alter human remains. Dismemberment may coincide with other concealment methods such as disposal in aquatic environments, so forensic anthropologists must recognize how taphonomy affects saw mark preservation. This study fo...

Metabolic profile determination of 2F‐viminol – A novel synthetic opioid identified in...

Novel synthetic opioid (NSO) continue to emerge in the United States in the midst of an opioid crisis. The NSO 2F‐viminol was identified in casework at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education through its NPS Discovery program in 2019. Little information and publish...

Correlation of soft tissue and skeletal injuries in cases of violent death: A...

In forensic pathology, deaths due to mechanical injuries (blunt, sharp, and gunshot) require an autopsy in order to determine the cause and manner of death through a detailed examination of viscera, soft tissues, and the skeletal system. Sometimes, such as in cases of severe putr...

An unusual blunt force trauma pattern and mechanism to the cranial vault: Investigation of...

This case report presents an unusual fracture pattern in the cranium of a four‐month‐old infant indicative of child abuse. Upon postmortem examination, the infant presented with numerous bilateral linear cranial fractures running perpendicular to the sagittal suture with depresse...

Anthropology Section Winter Deadlines

The impact of antimeric lower limb length asymmetry on adult stature estimation

Antimeric lower limb length asymmetry is frequently noted when measuring human skeletal remains. As lower limb bones are often used to estimate stature from unidentified remains, the forensic anthropologist who notes a disparity must then determine which lower limb bone or bones ...

Standard for Personal Identification in Forensic Anthropology

Standard for Analyzing Skeletal Trauma in Forensic Anthropology