Forensic Osteology

Kitabımız, adli antropoloji alanında yıllardır hizmet veren 12 uzman ve akademisyenin ilk kez bir araya gelerek saha, kazı, laboratuvar inceleme, genetik ve kimliklendirme çalışmalarında kullanılan metot ve teknikleri, yerel ve orijinal olgular üzerinden ayrıntılarıyla anlattıkları, adli antropoloji pratisyenleri ve öğrencilerine yönelik hazırlanmış bir rehber kitap niteliğindedir.
Kitapta, kimliği bilinmeyen ve teşhis edilemez durumdaki çürümüş, yanmış ve/veya iskeletleşmiş cesetlerle çalışan adli antropologların olay yerinden laboratuvar analizlerine, ölüm şekli belirleme, DNA örneklemesi ve kimliklendirme safhasına kadar yürüttükleri tüm süreçler ayrıntıları ile anlatılmış, adli antropolojinin insan hakları çalışmalarındaki yeri ve önemine dikkat çekilmiştir.

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

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 remain visible despite burning, as could be in cases where cremation was used as a funerary practice following inhumation. From this, we conclude that the observation of bioerosion lesions in histological thin sections of cremated bone can be used to interpret potential pre-cremation treatment of the body, with application possibilities for both archaeological and forensic contexts. However, the effect on bioerosion of substances such as bacterial-or enzymatic-based products often used to accelerate decomposition should be investigated.

Sex differences in the foramen magnum region of the cranial base have been identified with varying rates of success. Recent publications demonstrate a continuing strong interest in metric analysis of the foramen magnum region for sex determination despite the generally low expression of cranial base sexual dimorphism. It is important to identify possible age effects on skull base morphometric variables as most reported discriminant analyses use pooled-age samples without assessing the influence of aging on sexual dimorphism. This study examined 135 adult cranial bases (69 males and 66 females) from the St. Bride’s documented skeletal collection in London. Traditional craniometric measurements were recorded and the effect of age on sexual dimorphism of this anatomical region was tested using a variety of statistical analyses including MANOVA and discriminant function analysis. Age-dependent discriminant functions for <50 and >50 years of age were developed and compared. The cross-validated results showed that the <50 years function determined the sex of 69.1 % correctly while the >50 years function achieved 81.3 % correct predictions. However, the high sex biases of these functions (14.4 % and −17.5 %) severely limit their practical application. A pooled-age discriminant function permitted 71.9 % correct prediction with a sex bias of only −1.7 %. The statistical analyses also showed no significant age effect on any of the variables, suggesting that a separation by age is not necessary for the development of sex determination methods.

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

Four recently discovered frozen child mummies from two of the highest peaks in the south central Andes now yield tantalizing evidence of the preparatory stages leading to Inca ritual killing as represented by the unique capacocha rite. Our interdisciplinary study examined hair from the mummies to obtain detailed genetic and diachronic isotopic information. This approach has allowed us to reconstruct aspects of individual identity and diet, make inferences concerning social background, and gain insight on the hitherto unknown processes by which victims were selected, elevated in social status, prepared for a high-altitude pilgrimage, and killed. Such direct information amplifies, yet also partly contrasts with, Spanish historical accounts. ancient DNA bioarchaeology South America stable light isotopes ice mummies

Ancient human mobility at the individual level is conventionally studied by the diverse application of suitable techniques (e.g. aDNA, radiogenic strontium isotopes, as well as oxygen and lead isotopes) to either hard and/or soft tissues. However, the limited preservation of coexisting hard and soft human tissues hampers the possibilities of investigating high-resolution diachronic mobility periods in the life of a single individual. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study of an exceptionally well preserved circa 3.400-year old Danish Bronze Age female find, known as the Egtved Girl. We applied biomolecular, biochemical and geochemical analyses to reconstruct her mobility and diet. We demonstrate that she originated from a place outside present day Denmark (the island of Bornholm excluded), and that she travelled back and forth over large distances during the final months of her life, while consuming a terrestrial diet with intervals of reduced protein intake. We also provide evidence that all her garments were made of non-locally produced wool. Our study advocates the huge potential of combining biomolecular and biogeochemical provenance tracer analyses to hard and soft tissues of a single ancient individual for the reconstruction of high-resolution human mobility.

Historical evidence documents mass migration from Ireland to London during the period of the Great Irish Famine of 1845–52. The rural Irish were reliant on a restricted diet based on potatoes but maize, a C4 plant, was imported from the United States of America in 1846–47 to mitigate against Famine. In London, Irish migrants joined a population with a more varied diet. To investigate and characterize their diet, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were obtained from bone collagen of 119 and hair keratin of six individuals from Lukin Street cemetery, Tower Hamlets (1843–54), and bone collagen of 20 individuals from the cemetery at Kilkenny Union Workhouse in Ireland (1847–51). A comparison of the results with other contemporaneous English populations suggests that Londoners may have elevated d15N compared with their contemporaries in other cities. In comparison, the Irish group have lower d15N. Hair analysis combined with bone collagen allows the reconstruction of perimortem dietary changes. Three children aged 5–15 years from Kilkenny have bone collagen d13C values that indicate consumption of maize (C4). As maize was only imported into Ireland in quantity from late 1846 and 1847, these results demonstrate relatively rapid bone collagen turnover in children and highlight the importance of age-related bone turnover rates, and the impact the age of the individual can have on studies of short-term dietary change or recent migration. Stable light isotope data in this study are consistent with the epigraphic and documentary evidence for the presence of migrants within the London cemetery.

The advancement of modern diagnostic imaging such as digital radiography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography (CT) permits the acquisition of large amounts of data from modern human populations.  This study examines the extend of sexual dimorphism of the foramen magnum dimensions within a modern adult German population using CT datasets drawn from autopsy cases performed at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Charité in Berlin during 2011 to 2013.  The study sample consisted of 100 males and 100 females (age range: 18-95 years) with undamaged non-pathological cranial bases.  Four variables were recorded from multiplanar reconstructions: maximum foramen magnum length (LFM), maximum foramen magnum width (WFM), foramen magnum circumference (FMC) and foramen magnum area (FMA). The results of the statistical analysis demonstrated the existence of significant sexual dimorphism for all foramen magnum variables within the modern German population (p<0.05). The results of this study will be followed up with the development of population-specific discriminant functions and logistic regression equations for sex determination of unknown German cranial base fragments using post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT).

Archaeological work in advance of construction at a site on the edge of York, UK, yielded human remains of prehistoric to Romano-British date. Amongst these was a mandible and cranium, the intra-cranial space of which contained shrunken but macroscopically recognizable remains of a brain. Although the distinctive surface morphology of the organ is preserved, little recognizable brain histology survives. Though rare, the survival of brain tissue in otherwise skeletalised human remains from wet burial environments is not unique. A survey of the literature shows that similar brain masses have been previously reported in diverse circumstances. We argue for a greater awareness of these brain masses and for more attention to be paid to their detection and identification in order to improve the reporting rate and to allow a more comprehensive study of this rare archaeological survival.

Using an Osteobiographical approach, this contribution considers the identity of the woman found alongside the St Bees Man, one of the best-preserved archaeological bodies ever discovered. Osteological, isotopic and radiocarbon analyses, combined with the archaeological context of the burial and documented social history, provide the basis for the identification of a late 14th-century heiress whose activities were at the heart of medieval northern English geopolitics.

The discovery of human remains dating to the time of the Second World War is a common occurrence in Europe and the Pacific regions. This case report demonstrates the analysis of a bone fragment recovered from a Luftwaffe crash site in Austria during the summer of 2007. Eye-witness statements and official reports were used to reconstruct the historical background of the case. A recovered German military identity tag helped to identify the pilot. Aircraft parts, also discovered at the crash site in 2007, aided the identification of the aircraft type and corroborated the eye-witness reports of the final moments before and during the crash. The bone was analyzed chiefly to establish its human or non-human origin and to identify from which anatomic region the fragment could have arisen. It was identified as part of a human adult skull which exhibited peri-mortem fractures and heat damage as well as post-mortem vegetation staining. The historical background information in connection with the morphological analysis led to the presumptive identification of the cranial fragment as belonging to a downed German pilot.

The objective of this paper was to integrate excavation and post-processing of archaeological and osteological contexts and material to enhance the interpretation of these with specific focus on the taphonomical aspects. A method was designed, Virtual Taphonomy, based on the use and integration of image-based 3D modeling techniques into a 3D GIS platform, and tested on a case study. Merging the 3D models and a database directly in the same virtual environment allowed the authors to fully integrate excavation and post-processing in a complex spatial analysis reconnecting contexts excavated on different occasions in the field process. The case study further demonstrated that the method enabled a deeper understanding of the taphonomic agents at work and allowed the construction of a more detailed interpretation of the skeletal remains than possible with more traditional methods. The method also proved to add transparency to the entire research process from field to post-processing and interpretation. Other benefits were the timesaving aspects in documentation, not only in the excavation process but also in post-processing without creating additional costs in material, as the equipment used is available in most archaeological excavations. The authors conclude that this methodology could be employed on a variety of investigations from archaeological to forensic contexts and add significant value in many different respects (for example, detail, objectivity, complexity, time-efficiency) compared to methods currently used. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

RESUMEN. Este trabajo presenta los principales resultados y discusiones llevadas adelante durante el III Taller Nacional de Bioarqueología y Paleopatología, celebrado en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata los días 19 y 20 de mayo de 2016. Durante la realización del taller se presentaron ponencias que versaron sobre el estudio de restos esqueléticos y dentales, focalizando en las ventajas, desventajas y factibilidad de la aplicación de los métodos y técnicas complementarias o alternativas. Las mesas de discusión se organizaron siguiendo diferentes líneas temáticas como Antropología dental; Paleopatología, paleoparasitología y tafonomía, donde se expusieron trabajos relativos al uso del cuerpo, alimentación, salud y alteraciones culturales; Análisis microscópicos y densitométricos, donde se presentaron los alcances y dificultades en la realización de estos estudios; y por último, Determinación del sexo, donde se analizaron muestras arqueológicas de individuos adultos y se realizaron propuestas para la determinación sobre restos de individuos inmaduros investigando colecciones documentadas. Independientemente de los temas específicos que fueron trabajados, se discutieron temas como la necesidad de definir criterios que contribuyan a que las instituciones encargadas de la guarda de las colecciones de restos esqueléticos ofrezcan autorización para el análisis con equipamiento específico y se argumentó la necesidad de enfatizar en la divulgación de los resultados de los estudios bioarqueológicos y paleopatológicos en ámbitos académicos y no académicos.
ABSTRACT. This paper presents the main results and discussions carried out during the Third National Workshop on Bioarchaeology and Paleopathology, held at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of La Plata, on May 19-20, 2016. During the workshop, oral communications about the study of skeletal and dental remains were presented, focusing on the advantages, disadvantages and feasibility of the implementation of complementary or alternative research methods and techniques. The oral presentations were organized in scientific sessions along different thematic lines. The first session focused on Dental anthropology; the second one, that included expositions about Paleopathology, paleoparasitology and taphonomy, included research that discussed about the use of the body, health and cultural alterations. In the third session, concerning Microscopic and densitometric analysis, the scope and difficulties of conducting these studies were considered. Finally, the last session focused on Sex determination methodologies; in this case, archaeological adult samples were analyzed, and proposals for immature sex determination were conducted. During the meeting, the need to define criteria that contribute to the institutions responsible for the care of the collections of skeletal remains to provide authorization for analysis with specific equipment was expressed. Also, the need to emphasize the divulgation of the results of bioarchaeological and paleopathological studies in academic and non-academic areas was strongly argued.