Anthropology 130 Research Simulation 3 Forensic Anthropology Investigation 50 points total

Anthropology 130 Research Simulation 3

Forensic Anthropology Investigation
 50 points total

Instructions

This assignment will simulate a forensic anthropology investigation: applying knowledge

of human bioculture and osteology to help law enforcement.

Type your answers into the separate answer sheet, which is just a list of numbers.

Answers can be incomplete sentences unless otherwise stated in the question.

Assignment Start

Your hand still tingles from the work you did to get ready to study human adaptation in

Tibet. Sometimes, it takes years for funding to be granted and even more time for

research papers to go through review and get published. Rather than sit idly by waiting

for the result, you search for other projects to do in biological anthropology over the

summer. A posting on social media got your interest: an internship at a forensic

anthropology laboratory in the city. You recall that you learned the principles of human

osteology and forensic anthropology in your class. You send an email to the laboratory

with no real expectation of getting involved. At least you put yourself out there to see

what would happen.

A week later, you had forgotten about that email when you get a reply! A short phone

interview later, you are on your way to the forensic anthropology laboratory. You tour

the facilities, seeing the models they use to make various estimations of skeletal traits.

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Just as the laboratory manager apologizes that there is no current active case, the door

opens and you are greeted by police officers bearing a cardboard box.

“Looks like we have important work to do.”

Part One - The Steps of an Investigation

The sleeves of your lab coat briefly defy you as you and the lab manager walk up to

accept the box and bring it to one of the long examination tables. One of the police

officers give you some details:

“A hiker on a nearby trail had gone off the beaten path and found these bones out near

a stream. The bones were in danger of washing away so we quickly photographed the

area and removed the bones to bring here. We’re hoping that you can determine

whether these bones are related to any missing persons cases. So, you start by telling

us whether the bones are male or female, right?”

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{ Caption: Your new (unpaid) workplace (not really). }

Your new boss gives you a subtle look meaning that the officer was mistaken. You

speak up with information on the right order of investigation.

1. What is the first step of a forensic anthropology investigation? (2 points)

2. What are some objects that can fail the first step of the investigation? (2 points)

Putting on gloves and picking up each object from the box, you determine that a

forensic anthropology investigation should continue with the second step. You examine

each bone to see if they are human or if they belong to a common animal such as a dog

or deer. We’ll go with dogs for simplicity.

3. What are two key differences between a human and dog skull, besides just the difference in size? (2 points)

4. Besides the size, what is different about a human spine compared to a dog’s spine? (2 points)

5. How are these spinal differences related to the function of each species’s spine? How do humans and dogs use their spines differently? (2 points)

6. What are two physical differences between the limb bones of a human and those of a dog? (2 points)

7. Based on the functions of the bones, why do humans and dogs have these differences in the limb bones? (2 points)

Looking at the array of bones in the box, you determine that these all belong to a human

and not another animal. On a paper form for each forensics case, you name this

individual ANTH130 for your records. Then, you carefully arrange the bones in

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‘anatomical position’ relative to each other to get a sense of which bones are there. You

have most of the skeleton, except for the pelvis, some vertebrae, the hyoid, and the

smaller hand and foot bones. An examination of the bones suggest that only one

individual is represented and that the skeleton is of recent origin and not prehistoric. You

move on to estimating the traits of this person to provide clues to investigators.

Part Two - Estimating Traits

The laboratory manager and police officers look on as you proceed. You know that you

need to estimate a few helpful traits to solve this case: biological sex, age at death,

stature, and any trauma.

8. Which part of the skeleton gives the best estimates for biological sex? (2 points)

9. What is the functional reason for why this part of the skeleton is so different between females and males? (2 points)

10. Aside from that part in question 9, what is a general difference between the bones of a male compared to the same bones of a female? (2 points)

You look at the bones in front of you and compare them to illustrations in a forensic

anthropology book.

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{ Caption: Section from a book

describing the general differences between a male and female. The

male skull is on top and the female skull is the bottom one.

{ Caption: The skull you are examining to estimate the biological sex. }

11. Does the bone you are examining on the previous page look more male or female? Look for as many visible traits as possible. What observations led to your conclusion? (2 points)

Satisfied that you reached a firm estimation, you move on to estimate race/ancestry.

One of the officers, who has been observing the whole time, speaks up:

“Excuse me, I’ve always been confused about something. We use racial categories a lot

in our work, and it has gotten us good results in helping us identify people. I heard from

my niece who is a college student that races are culturally constructed categories,

though. How can race be a cultural construct but still be useful in American law

enforcement?”

You feel like you should address this question with a few sentences.

12. In a few sentences, explain in your own words how forensic anthropologists can estimate race/ancestry in the United States even though science demonstrates that race is a cultural construct. (4 points)

The officer seems satisfied with your answer and goes back to observing your work.

The next trait to estimate is the age-at-death of the individual.

13. Which bone mentioned in lecture has two regions that could be used to estimate age-at-death? (2 points)

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Unfortunately, that part of the

skeleton happened to be too broken

for a solid estimation. You instead

turn to the teeth for any indicators of

age-at-death and other useful

information. Using a standard

diagram to mark the presence or

absence of teeth, you come up with

the chart to the left. The very top

and bottom of the diagram are the

teeth closest to the lips.The upper

arch is the upper jaw and the lower

arch is the mandible.

14. What is the dental formula of a typical adult person, counting each type of tooth they have in one quadrant of their mouth? (2 points)

15. There are two missing teeth, which you marked with Xs. What are the names of these teeth? (2 points)

16. Based on your own brainstorming, what are two possible reasons that these teeth could be missing? (2 points)

17. The non-crossed-out teeth are all there. Based on the teeth present, what can you say about the age of this individual? (2 points)

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Looking for any other signs of environmental impact on the skeleton, you examine each

piece for signs of trauma.

18. Which two types of trauma tend to produce radiating fractures that come out of the impact area? (2 points)

You notice that one of the forearm bones, the ulna, has an irregular mass of bone on the

shaft. This is the result of physical trauma, and its appearance can tell you about when

the event happened.

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{ Caption: Ulna with a mass of bone growth in the center of the shaft. }

19. Is the trauma on the ulna an example of antemortem, perimortem, or postmortem injury? How do you know? (2 points)

Part Three - Cultural Modifications of the Skeleton

The data collection has been strenuous but you know that doing a detailed job will help

a lot of people. You place the ulna down and sit back on the uncomfortable lab chair. It

must have been bought from a school surplus auction decades ago. Seeing the welded

joints on the former classroom chair, you realize that a prior observation could be

important. Referring back at the dental chart, you remember that you noted a metal

dental filling on one of the teeth as a dark shape drawn on the tooth you saw. The filling

must have been used to seal a carious lesion, or cavity, made by bacteria.

20. From the dental chart above, what is the name of the tooth that has a filling? (2 points)

21. What is another example of a cultural modification to teeth that you learned about in this course? What is the practice and which culture is it from? (2 points)

Part Four - Reporting Your Findings

As you wrap up your observations, you look up and see that the police officers have left.

Your lab manager notices that you are wrapping up your data collection.

“I think you have some good estimations from your work. You should take the table you

have been making and turn it into a short paragraph summary to send to law

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enforcement. This will give them something to work off when they continue their

investigation. By the way, the summary is also entered into the court record if the case

makes it to trial, so no pressure.”

Slightly alarmed, you look down and are relieved to see that you have been noting a lot

of estimations beyond the ones your remembered doing above:

Case #ANTH130

Your task now is to summarize these estimations in a clear paragraph that gives a

profile of this individual.

22. Write a paragraph over 250 words that gives a profile of the person’s traits based on clues found on their skeleton. Include the case number and information on all of the six traits in the table above and how you reached the estimations you made. (6 points: 4 points for including all of the estimations and 2 points for clear grammatically correct writing)

Trait Estimate

Sex #11 Answer Age-at-Death #17 Answer Race/Ancestry Indeterminate race Stature Between 5 foot 4 and 5 foot 10

Trauma Ulna (#19 answer) Dentition #15, #16, #20 answers)

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Conclusion

You finalize your report and email it to the police department for investigators to use.

Weeks later, after the summer internship had ended, you receive a large envelope in

the mail. Inside you find several documents. The first is a note from your former lab

manager that your work has produced some helpful leads in a missing persons case.

Based on the estimates you provided, the police can look through the list of reported

missing persons in the area and focus on the ones matching your information. The

discovery of past tooth loss and skeletal trauma means that the police can also look at

hospital records for a potential match. Also included in the packet is a copy of your

report. Lastly, there is a letter of recommendation speaking to your analytic abilities!

Be sure to have answered every question in the answer sheet. Please submit the report

sheet under the assignment link in Canvas or turn it in in class.

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