Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice

Introduction

Abstract

A human skeleton is discovered by hikers in the woods. A body that is burned beyond recognition is delivered to the morgue. Fractures found on the bones of an accident victim are inconsistent with witness accounts of the event. An airline disaster has resulted in the fragmentation and dispersion of numerous body parts. Victims of a war crime are discovered in a clandestine grave. These diverse and challenging cases all have something in common: they are all within the purview of forensic anthropology. This chapter introduces the field of forensic anthropology, and highlights the roles and responsibilities of working forensic anthropologists today.

Keywords

forensic anthropology; anthropological method; legal; medicolegal; sex; ancestry; age; stature; skeletal material; biological profile

A human skeleton is discovered by hikers in the woods. A body that is burned beyond recognition is delivered to the morgue. Fractures found on the bones of an accident victim are inconsistent with witness accounts of the event. An airline disaster has resulted in the fragmentation and dispersion of numerous body parts. Victims of a war crime are discovered in a clandestine grave. These diverse and challenging cases all have something in common: they are all within the purview of forensic anthropology. This chapter introduces the field of forensic anthropology, and highlights the roles and responsibilities of working forensic anthropologists today.

1.1 Forensic anthropology

Anthropology is a broad field, defined as the study of humankind (from the Greek anthropos man and logia study). Anthropology is generally considered to consist of four primary subdisciplines: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and physical anthropology. Cultural (also referred to as socio-cultural or social) anthropology is the study of human cultural variation, including aspects of social organization, subsistence practices, economics, politics, conflict, technology, and religion, among others. Linguistic anthropology is the study of human communication, including differences across time and space, and how language systems affect human culture and behavior. Archaeology is the study of past human cultures through the materials left behind. Material culture can include artifacts (e.g., tools), ecofacts (e.g., skeletal remains, food refuse), and features (e.g., remains of buildings and other structures). Archaeologists often use cultural and evolutionary theories to test hypotheses against the archaeological record.

Physical (or biological) anthropology is the study of the evolution and diversity of primates, especially the human lineage. This is accomplished through the study of comparative anatomy, and the study of human and non-human primate variation (e.g., morphology and genetics) and behavior. Many physical anthropologists focus specifically on skeletal biology, or the study of the anatomy and biology of the skeleton (which includes the bones and teeth). Skeletal biologists often specialize in broad areas such as functional morphology, bioarchaeology, paleopathology, and forensic anthropology.

Forensic anthropology is considered to be an applied subfield of physical anthropology and can be defined as the application of anthropological method and theory to matters of legal concern, particularly those that relate to the recovery and analysis of the skeleton. The practice of forensic anthropology often involves estimating the sex, ancestry, age, and stature from skeletal material from unknown individuals. This summary of estimated biological parameters is referred to as the biological profile, which is compared to missing persons records in an attempt to identify the person to whom the skeletal remains belong. Forensic anthropologists also specialize in the search for and recovery of human remains, the analysis of skeletal trauma and other alterations which may be relevant to the individual’s cause and manner of death, and the facilitation of personal identification through the recognition of traits and features that may be associated with a particular individual.

1.2 History of forensic anthropology

Forensic anthropology is still considered to be a relatively young scientific discipline, with four temporal eras that are generally recognized to mark certain periods of development (Stewart, 1979; Thompson, 1982; Sledzik et al., 2007). Prior to the 1940s, the practice of forensic anthropology was limited to anatomists, physicians, and some physical anthropologists who worked primarily as university professors or museum curators and occasionally consulted on skeletonized remains cases for law enforcement. During this formative period, there was no formal instruction in forensic applications of physical anthropology and little published research. With regard to medicolegal applications of the discipline, practitioners were either informally trained or self-taught, and played only a limited role in cases of medicolegal significance. It was during this time that Thomas Dwight (1843–1911), a Harvard anatomy professor, became the first to extensively publish works on topics that would become the foundation of forensic anthropology, including methods of estimating sex, age, and stature from the skeleton. His award-winning essay, The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medicolegal Study (1878), along with many other publications related to human anatomy and forensic anthropology, helped earn Thomas Dwight the title of Father of Forensic Anthropology in the United States.

From the 1940s to the early 1970s, attention from medicolegal and military agencies increased, with recognition of the utility of forensic anthropology in the identification of deceased service members from WWII and the Korean War. Important anthropological events of this time included two works by Wilton Marion Krogman (1903–1987): Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material (1939) and The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine (1962). This period also saw an increase in development of forensic anthropological methods based on the skeletal remains of deceased soldiers. Many of these early studies form the basis of methods still in use today.

From the 1970s to 1990s, the field became increasingly professionalized, particularly with the establishment of the Physical Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 (see Box 1.1), and the creation of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 1977 (see Box 1.2). Another significant work, Essentials of Forensic Anthropology (1979) by T. Dale Stewart (1901–1997), was one of a growing number of publications in the field. There was also a significant increase in research, employment, acceptance by the forensic community, and establishment of graduate programs that specialize in forensic anthropology.

BOX 1.1

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

Founded in 1948, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is a professional society dedicated to the application of science to the law, the promotion of education, and the elevation of accuracy, precision and specificity in the forensic sciences (American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 2012). As of the time of this writing, the AAFS membership includes more than 6000 members representing all 50 United States and more than 60 other countries worldwide. Members are divided into eleven sections representing the scientific disciplines of Criminalistics, Digital and Multimedia Sciences, Engineering Sciences, General, Jurisprudence, Odontology, Pathology/Biology, Physical Anthropology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Questioned Documents, and Toxicology. The AAFS holds annual meetings each February and has its own internationally recognized journal, The Journal of Forensic Sciences.

The Physical Anthropology section was added to the AAFS membership in 1972, when interest among physical anthropologists was sufficient to meet the minimum membership requirements. More information about AAFS including membership can be found at www.aafs.org.

BOX 1.2

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

The American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA) was incorporated in 1977 as a non-profit organization to provide a program of certification in forensic anthropology, recognizing certified Diplomates for their qualifications and for meeting standards set forth by the ABFA (American Board of Forensic Anthropology, 2012). As of the time of this writing, 99 forensic anthropologists have been board certified, with approximately 70 being currently active. More information about the ABFA including certification requirements can be found at www.theabfa.org.

1.3 Forensic anthropology today

Today, forensic anthropology is a well-established forensic discipline that has experienced a recent and significant expansion in attention and breadth, facilitated in large part by increased public, media, and professional interest (see Box 1.3). There has been an enormous increase in research and publications in the field, coupled with the development of numerous graduate programs with curricula specifically tailored to prepare students for careers in forensic anthropology. The formation of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology in 2008 marked the discipline’s recognition of the need to formulate and codify standard practices (Box 1.4).

BOX 1.3

TV’S BONES

Already gaining massively in popularity, the field of forensic anthropology was launched into the public spotlight with the FOX TV series Bones which premiered in 2005. Featuring Dr. Temperance Brennan as a brilliant but socially-challenged forensic anthropologist, the show is based on the fictional writings of Board Certified Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Kathy Reichs. There is some artistic license involved, of course, and in the spirit of many other popular TV crime shows, bone-related mysteries are solved in short order with the help of Brennan’s cocksure FBI agent sidekick. Her high-tech toys at the fictitious Jeffersonian Institute are the envy of even the most sophisticated forensic anthropology laboratories in existence today.

BOX 1.4

THE SCIENTIFIC WORKING GROUP FOR FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

In the 1990s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Laboratory began sponsoring Scientific Working Groups (SWG) in partnership with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to improve practices and build consensus with their federal, state, and local forensic community partners (Adams and Lothridge, 2000). Scientific working groups consist of representatives from forensic, industrial, commercial, and academic communities, including international participants, who assist in the development of standards and guidelines and improve communications throughout their respective disciplines (NIJ, 2012).

The Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology (SWGANTH) was formed in 2008 under the joint sponsorship of the FBI Laboratory and the Department of Defense Central Identification Laboratory. Like many of the other SWGs, the primary objectives of SWGANTH are to develop and disseminate best practice guidelines and standards for the discipline. SWGANTH’s guidelines are currently published on their website, www.swganth.org, where one can also learn about current activities, upcoming meetings, and other relevant matters. Although voluntary in most cases, following SWG guidelines is generally considered best practice, and SWG guidelines are increasingly recognized and considered by courts. Many of the techniques and approaches described in this book follow guidelines promulgated by SWGANTH. The administrative oversight and future role of the SWGs are currently matters under consideration by NIJ.

Historically, forensic anthropologists were only consulted to estimate a biological profile when remains were nearly or completely skeletonized and a standard soft tissue autopsy could not be performed. Today, the increased breadth and scope of the field includes not only these traditional analyses, but also personal identification, trauma analysis, taphonomic analysis, estimating the postmortem interval, and the application of anthropological knowledge to the investigation of mass disasters and violations of international law. In addition, forensic anthropologists are increasingly involved in the analysis of recently deceased individuals and investigations involving the living.

Especially in the current era of forensic anthropology, a forensic anthropologist needs to have a specialized and advanced education. In order to interpret findings from the study of skeletal material, a forensic anthropologist must understand how and why humans vary throughout history, across geography, between the sexes, during an individual’s lifetime, and between individuals. It is therefore important to understand not only the technical aspects of performing a forensic anthropological examination, but also the evolutionary, biological, biomechanical, and cultural underpinnings of skeletal variation in order to understand and interpret findings. This typically involves a broad education in anthropology as well as the physical and natural sciences.

Experience ideally includes working with skeletal collections, mentorship with a practicing forensic anthropologist, and hands-on experience with forensic cases. Forensic anthropologists often collaborate with professionals from other disciplines, so it is important to understand how anthropological analyses integrate with and affect other forensic examinations, including molecular biology, pathology, entomology, chemistry, archaeology, geology, and botany. It is also becoming increasingly important to understand the legal, cultural, and scientific challenges related to various forensic anthropological analyses.

1.4 Careers in forensic anthropology

Due to both the increasing appreciation for the utility of forensic anthropology as well as the expanding scope of the field, forensic anthropologists are now employed in a wide variety of professional settings. The majority of forensic anthropologists are still university professors who provide forensic anthropological consultations as a matter of public service. These services, however, have become increasingly frequent and integrated into the university structure. Over the past few decades, several university anthropology programs have developed laboratories where practitioners perform casework as well as train and mentor students. Examples include the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida, the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University (see Box 1.5), and the Human Identification Laboratory at California State University, Chico.

BOX 1.5

DR. KATE SPRADLEY, TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Dr. Kate Spradley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Like many university professors, the primary duties of her job include teaching, research, and service. Courses taught by Dr. Spradley include forensic anthropology, biological anthropological theory, human biological variation, and growth and development. Dr. Spradley’s research interests include human variation, specifically the use of craniometric data to understand biological relationships among geographic groups. Her current research focuses on developing new methods of sex estimation and improved ancestry estimation for Hispanic individuals. As part of her service work, she provides forensic anthropological consulting services for both archaeological and clandestine settings. She also serves as the laboratory’s case manager for NamUs (see Chapter 14). Dr. Spradley received her BA and MA in Anthropology from the University of Arkansas and her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee.

Photo courtesy of Texas State University

Medical examiners’ offices are increasingly employing forensic anthropologists to not only assist with skeletal remains cases, but also to apply their expertise to recently deceased individuals, especially in regard to the analysis of skeletal trauma. In larger jurisdictions, there may be full-time work for a forensic anthropologist (see Box 1.6). As of the time of this writing, for example, the New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner (see Box 1.7) and the Harris County (Texas) Institute of Forensic Science each have multiple full-time forensic anthropologists. In other jurisdictions, anthropologists in medical examiner’s offices may perform forensic anthropological analyses as one of their roles, and may also fill additional roles such as medicolegal investigator or fingerprint examiner.

BOX 1.6

DR. BRUCE E. ANDERSON, PIMA COUNTY OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER

Dr. Bruce E. Anderson is the Forensic Anthropologist for the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME) in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Anderson’s principal duties include conducting postmortem forensic anthropology examinations for the purposes of effecting identification, constructing biological profiles, describing perimortem trauma, and comparing the results of examinations to missing persons reports, many of which are entered into NamUs. Because of the high volume of casework due to the many foreign national migrants that cross through southern Arizona, Dr. Anderson encourages and facilitates anthropological research on these skeletal cases. Dr. Anderson is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, where he occasionally teaches an introductory course in forensic anthropology. He also mentors anthropology students in the Forensic Anthropology Internship Program and oversees the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the PCOME. Dr. Anderson received his BA degree from Arizona State University and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Arizona.

Photo by Matt Nager

BOX 1.7

DR. BRADLEY ADAMS, OFFICE OF CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, NEW YORK

Dr. Bradley Adams is the Director of the Forensic Anthropology Unit at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in New York City. In this role, Dr. Adams and his team are responsible for all forensic anthropology casework in the five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island). The typical types of cases may involve estimation of the biological profile and analysis of skeletal trauma. In addition to laboratory analysis of skeletal remains, members of the Forensic Anthropology Unit also assist with certain types of scene recoveries such as buried bodies or scattered remains. Dr. Adams and his team are also integral players in the ongoing work related to identification efforts for 9/11 victims of the World Trade Center attacks, and they serve as critical members of the agency’s disaster response team. Dr. Adams received a dual undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas in Anthropology and in Spanish. For graduate school he attended the University of Tennessee and received a MA and PhD in Physical Anthropology with a focus on forensic anthropology.

Photo courtesy of Bradley Adams

Museums continue to employ forensic anthropologists, and some also provide forensic anthropological services as consultants. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), for example, has a long history of providing forensic anthropological services, including to the FBI (Ubelaker, 2000), and several of the anthropologists employed by the NMNH continue to provide this public service. The National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM) employs forensic anthropologists in various roles who also provide their services on casework (see Box 1.8).

BOX 1.8

MR. BRIAN F. SPATOLA, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Mr. Brian F. Spatola is the Collections Manager of the Anatomical Division of the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM) in Silver Spring, Maryland. His responsibilities involve caring for over 20,000 preserved anatomical specimens in the museum, which include a skeletal pathology collection ranging from historic Civil War surgery specimens to modern forensic material, as well as promoting and facilitating research and educational use of the collections. As the anatomy lab manager, Mr. Spatola oversees the preparation and conservation of specimens using various preservation techniques. A substantial amount of his time involves care of the collections and rectifying historical issues. He also provides forensic anthropology support to the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner and the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Mr. Spatola received his BA from the University of North Texas, and his graduate training consisted of laboratory and field work with the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Lab (FACES) at Louisiana State University where he received his MA.

Photo courtesy of National Museum of Health and Medicine

Forensic anthropologists have also found employment in the growing number of federal laboratories that recover and analyze skeletal remains for identification as part of their primary mission. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command – Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC-CIL) in Hawaii was initially established to assist in the identification of deceased military personnel in the Pacific region. Today, the laboratory is congressionally mandated to identify a minimum number of service members annually, and employs numerous full-time forensic anthropologists and archaeologists (see Box 1.9). The laboratory also assists in a small number of local recent forensic cases. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES), which is responsible for the examination and identification of recently deceased military personnel, as well as US citizens who died abroad, has forensic anthropologists who assist with morgue operations, particularly in cases involving fragmentary remains. The FBI Laboratory employs anthropologists who assist in the detection, recovery, and analysis of skeletal material in support of federal, state, and local investigations.

BOX 1.9

DR. JOSEPH T. HEFNER, JOINT POW/MIA ACCOUNTING COMMAND, CENTRAL IDENTIFICATION LABORATORY

Dr. Joseph T. Hefner is a Forensic Anthropologist and Laboratory Manager for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Central Identification Laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii. As part of the JPAC-CIL mission, Dr. Hefner is actively involved in the recovery and identification of US service members lost in past wars. Traveling to Southeast Asia, the Pacific theater, Europe, and Korea, the anthropologists and archaeologists from the CIL spend weeks (and often months) in the field searching for fallen soldiers. In the laboratory, Dr. Hefner uses his knowledge of skeletal biology and forensic anthropology to build a biological profile, make chest radiograph comparisons, and perform histological analyses. This information is provided to the JPAC-CIL’s Scientific Director, who determines whether an identification can be made. Dr. Hefner received his undergraduate degree from a small liberal arts college in North Carolina (Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC), a post-baccalaureate from Mercyhurst College (Erie, PA), and his Master’s and PhD from the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL).

Photo by Dr. Derek Benedix

Forensic anthropologists have taken on important roles in the identification of victims of mass disasters. Many forensic anthropologists are members of the Disaster Mortuary Operation Response Team (DMORT), a federal response team of numerous specialists that assists local jurisdictions (e.g., coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement) in the event of a mass disaster. Such work is typically sporadic and rarely a career in and of itself. Forensic anthropologists may, however, serve in mass disaster roles as part of their other responsibilities, such as being the mass fatality planner/coordinator in a medical examiner’s office. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is charged with investigating civil aviation accidents as well as certain highway, pipeline, marine, and rail incidents. The NTSB employs several forensic anthropologists to assist with mass fatality medicolegal operations (see Box 1.10).

BOX 1.10

DR. ELIAS J. KONTANIS, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

Dr. Elias J. Kontanis is the Coordinator for Medicolegal Operations for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). His principal duties include interacting with federal, state, and local agencies regarding victim recovery, examination, identification, and related medicolegal matters following major transportation accidents. Dr. Kontanis is also responsible for communicating with family members of victims and accident survivors regarding the NTSB investigation and other medicolegal concerns. A major component of his position is to create and deliver training programs to medical examiners, coroners, police and fire agencies, other federal, state, and local agencies, and the transportation industry on the role of the NTSB and management of mass fatality medicolegal operations. Dr. Kontanis earned a PhD in biology from Cornell University in 2005 and is a Registered Medicolegal Death Investigator. He is also a Federal Aviation Administration Certificated Flight Instructor and Advanced Ground Instructor, and holds a commercial certificate for single-engine fixed wing aircraft with an instrument rating.

Photo courtesy of Elias Kontanis

Anthropologists have become increasingly involved in humanitarian, human rights, and armed conflict investigations abroad. Among the first was the use of forensic anthropology to investigate conflicts in Latin America (especially Argentina) in the 1970s and 1980s. Many forensic anthropologists have also assisted in the excavation and analysis of skeletal remains in the Balkans since the 1990s. Such investigations continue today, and forensic anthropologists can find work in association with these investigations with organizations like Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) (see Box