Forensic Anthropology

Description

Forensic anthropology is a vastly popular and rapidly changing profession, yet to date there has been no volume that reflects the current state of the discipline and forecasts its future. The first comprehensive text in the field, Forensic Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Practice examines the medical, legal, ethical, and humanitarian issues associated with forensic anthropology, current forensic methods, and bio-historical investigations.
Forensic Anthropology offers a unique synthesis of theoretical and methodological coverage. Rather than simply describing methodology, Komar and Buikstra place forensic anthropology in the broader context of medico-legal death investigations, critically evaluating practical techniques in a scientific framework and detailing the anthropologist's role in relation to both law enforcement and the medical examiner or coroner. The authors review the current state of the field, emphasizing recent changes to the judicial guidelines regarding the admissibility of scientific evidence in court. They highlight the impact of these rulings, the increased need for scientific rigor, and the evolving nature of anthropological studies, preparing students to function effectively in the demanding judicial system that will evaluate their work in the future. The text also stresses the vital importance of research in the development of forensic applications of anthropology.
Forensic Anthropology is enhanced by numerous illustrative case studies and more than ninety photos and illustrations that help to deepen and enrich students' understanding of the material. Coauthored by a top authority in forensic anthropology and an anthropologist whose fieldwork has included medico-legal death investigation in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Darfur, this volume is an in-depth and indispensable guide to the dynamic and rapidly professionalizing field of forensic anthropology.

Table of Contents

Chapters 2-10 open with an Introduction and end with a Conclusion.
Preface
1. Introduction
Forensic Anthropology: A Brief History (1972-2006)
What Is Forensic Anthropology Today?
Where Do Forensic Anthropologists Work?
Is Forensic Anthropology Expanding in the United States?
Forensic Anthropology Outside the United States
Research in Forensic Anthropology Today
Forensic Anthropology in Perspective
2. The Medicolegal System
The Medicolegal System
Jurisdiction
Death Investigation
Cause and Manner of Death
Motive, Intent, and Volition
Autopsy and Postmortem Examinations
Triage and Mechanisms of Death
Anthropology and Autopsy
Public Perception of Autopsy
3. Evidence and the Judicial System
Evidence
Systems of Classification of Evidence
Recognizing Evidence
Evidence Interpretation: Rationality versus Parsimony
The Judicial System: An Overview
Testifying as a Witness
Qualifying as an Expert Witness
Homicide
4. Crime Scene Investigation: Identifying Medicolegal Remains, Search Strategies, and Scene Documentation
Identifying Remains of Medicolegal Significance
Types of Nonmedicolegal Remains
Distinguishing Recent from Archaeological Remains
Differentiating Human from Animal Bone and Nonbiological Materials
Jurisdiction and the Crime Scene
Responsibility versus Authority
Protocols
Evaluating Scenes
Search Strategies
Evidence
Documentation
Burials
Archaeological versus Forensic Approaches to Excavation
Theories of Deposition
Report Writing
5. Beginning the Identification Process: Developing a Biological Profile
Theories and Methods in Forensic Anthropology
The Estimation of Sex from Skeletal Remains
Sex: Juvenile Remains
Sex: Adult Remains
The Estimation of Age-at-Death from Skeletal Remains
Age: Juvenile Remains
Age: Adult Remains
Ancestry
Stature Estimation
Other Physical Features
6. Pathology and Trauma Assessment
The Language of Pathology, Anatomy, and Medicine
Pathology: An Overview
Classes of Pathology
Trauma Assessment
Sharp Force Trauma
Tool Mark Analysis
Blunt Force Trauma
Internal and External Factors in Fractures
Asphyxia
Gunshot Wound Interpretation
Typical Gunshot Wound Morphology
Atypical Gunshot Wound Morphology
Determining the Sequence of Injuries in Polytonic Trauma
7. Forensic Taphonomy
Forensic Taphonomy
The Goals of Forensic Taphonomy
Time-Since-Death Estimation
Methods of Time-Since-Death Estimation
Bone Modification
Mechanisms of Transport
Preservation and Collection Bias
Reconstructing Perimortem Events
8. Personal Identification
How Identification Is Established
Categories of Identification
Doe Designation
Methods of Positive Identification
Visual Recognition
Fingerprinting
DNA
Nuclear DNA
DNA and Forensic Anthropology
Forensic Odontology
Radiologic Identification
Alternative Medical Imaging
Impact of Daubert on Positive Identification
Photographic Superimposition and Facial Recognition
9. Mass Death and International Investigations of Human Rights Violations
War Crimes
Genocide
Group Identity versus Personal Identification
Personal Identification
Humanitarian versus Medicolegal Response
Establishing Jurisdiction
Agencies
Mass Graves
Commingling
Objectivity
10. Biohistory: Historical Questions, Methods, and Ethics
Biohistory: Past and Present
Other Biohistorical Questions
Noninvasive Analyses
A Case Study in Biohistorical and Forensic Investigation: Billy the Kid
A Brief History of Billy the Kid
The (Almost) Exhumation of Billy the Kid
Glossary
References Cited and Related Bibliographic Items
Index