FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY 1 - Dead Men Do Tell Tales: Introduction & Osteological Profiling IMAGE/S REMOVED
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FORENSIC
ANTHROPOLOGY 1
Dead Men Do Tell Tales:
Introduction &
IMAGE/S Osteological Profiling
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Dr Linda G. Lynch MIAI MIAPO
Consultant Human Osteoarchaeologist
IAFS 10 June 2021
What is osteoarchaeology?
ANTIQUARIAN STUDIES
Labbacallee wedge tomb 1934
Frazer 1898
OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY • Both the body and the burial are constructs of society; • Emphasis on plasticity of body and adaptability of humans; • Places the skeleton/s within a wide social and cultural context.
Owenbristy, Galway
• Cemeteries, including known Eachtra Archaeology
and previously unrecorded
• Isolated burials
• Disarticulated bones
Roncesvalle Medieval Ossuary, Spain
Aditu Archaeology
Killanena, Co. Clare
Aegis Archaeology
LEGISLATION:
National Monuments Acts 1930-2014
• Excavated ‘ancient’ human remains are defined as ‘archaeological
objects’;
• All archaeological objects are owned by the State;
• Archaeological licence required for excavation;
• Only exception is when the finder of an archaeological object 'has
reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary to remove it so as
to preserve it or keep it safe’;
• In such instances the finder may remove the object to any safe
place, with 30 miles of discovery, but must contact the Director of
the National Museum within 96 hours.
LEGISLATION: Coroner’s Act 1962 ‘…it shall be the duty of the coroner to hold an inquest in relation to the death of that person if he is of opinion that the death may have occurred in a violent or unnatural manner, or suddenly and from unknown causes or in a place or in circumstances which, under provisions in that behalf contained in any other enactment, require that an inquest should be held’
DISCOVERY OF HUMAN REMAINS ON
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION?
• In the case of accidental discovery of human remains, it is a legal
obligation (Coroner’s Act 1962; National Monument Acts 1930- 1994) to
notify An Garda Síochána and the National Museum of Ireland. If the
remains are in an archaeological monument, the National Museum and
the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment,
Heritage and Local Government should be informed [sic*]
• Condition 10 of issued archaeological licence (2019):
Unanticipated discovery of human remains must be reported as
soon as possible to the National Monuments Service and the
National Museum of Ireland.
• As best practice, all human skeletal remains uncovered on archaeological
sites should be reported to the local Coroner via An Garda Síochána
* Buckley, L., E. Murphy, & B. Ó Donnabháin (2004) ‘The Treatment of
Human Remains: Technical Paper for Archaeologists’, First published
IAPA 1999, IAI 2004.
Sampling of archaeological human
remains
• Small samples required, just circa 1-4g;
• Must be selected by the osteoarchaeologist, who considers which bone
might be of greatest potential. Should not have pathological lesions or
compromise the assessment of either the parent bone or the skeleton
itself in the future;
• The selected sample will be destroyed by the process and is a major
consideration in the choice;
• Because the fragment is an archaeological object, it will require a licence
to alter (in this case, destruction), from the National Museum of Ireland;
• There are no radiocarbon dating labs in the State;
• Because of this, the archaeological sample will require a licence to
export, from the National Museum of Ireland;
• Results must be reported to National Museum of Ireland.
POTENTIALLY UNCONTROLLABLE
CONTROLLABLE FACTORS
FACTORS LIVING PAST HUMAN GROUP
MORTALITY
TOTAL DEATH ASSEMBLAGE
ANCIENT
BURIAL PRACTICES
FRACTION OF THE ABOVE
INTERRED IN CEMETERY
BONE SURVIVAL
(PRESERVATION)
FRACTION OF THE ABOVE
SURVIVING TO THE PRESENT DAY
EXCAVATION
STRATEGY
FRACTION OF THE ABOVE IN
THE EXCAVATED VOLUME
RECOVERY
FACTORS
FRACTION OF THE ABOVE RECOVERED
Adapted from Meadow 1980,
in Mays 1998What is forensic anthropology?
FORENSIC ARCHAEOLOGY
‘…the application of archaeological
principles and techniques within a
medico-
legal and/or humanitarian context
involving buried evidence’
Blau & Ubelaker 2016, 2DPAA:
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing
in Action Accounting Agency
ICMP:
International Commission
on Missing Persons
ICRC:
International Committee of
the Red CrossBy Mario Modesto Mata - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36391125
ICLVR: Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains
To locate, recover, and identify the remains of the 16 people
who were ‘Disappeared’ by the IRA, INLA, and others
in the 1970s and 1980sON-SITE EXCAVATION &
RECOVERY
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• Define outline of grave
• Photograph
• Excavate, from head to feet
& spine outwards
• Record
• Bag-up
BAGGING RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Skull, 2. Mandible, 3. Left clavicle & scapula, 4. Right clavicle & scapula, 5. Left arm, 6. Right arm,
7. Left hand, 8. Right hand, 9. Sternum and spine, 10. Left ribs, 11. Right ribs, 12. Sacrum, 13. Left
hip, 14. Right hip, 15. Left leg, 16. Right leg, 17. Left foot, 18. Right foot, 19. Disartic./associatedSKELETON INVENTORY
FIELD DIAGRAM & ORIENTATION
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‘TheLovers
‘The LoversofofValdaro’
Valdaro’, Italy
Neolithic Tomb, San Giorgio, Italy Viking execution site
Ridgeway Hill, Dorset
Ridgeway Hill, Dorset, England
Executed VikingsDysert Oenghusa Round Tower, Croom
NMS
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Inishbarnóg Island, Donegal
NMS
IMAGE/S
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• Each skeletal element bagged separately during
POST-EXCAVATION excavation: left arm, right arm, etc. This is maintained
throughout;
• BAGGING RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Skull, 2. Mandible, 3.
Left clavicle & scapula, 4. Right clavicle & scapula, 5. Left
arm, 6. Right arm, 7. Left hand, 8. Right hand, 9. Sternum
and spine, 10. Left ribs, 11. Right ribs, 12. Sacrum, 13. Left
hip, 14. Right hip, 15. Left leg, 16. Right leg, 17. Left foot,
18. Right foot, 19. Disartic./associated;
• Skeleton is washed using soft brushes and allowed to dry
at room temperature;
• Rebagged;
• Submitted to specialist, along with all on-site information
and stratigraphic information.Vernier Calipers
Spreading Calipers
Osteometric BoardOSTEOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
CONTEXT
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St Mary’s Kilkenny
Kilkenny rchaeologyPRESERVATION
IMAGE/S
REMOVEDOSTEOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS • Animal or human?; • Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI); • Age-at-death; • Sex; • Stature; • Dental Analysis; • Skeletal Pathological Lesions.
Human Dentition: Deciduous (20) 8 incisors 4 canines 8 molars Permanent (32) 8 incisors 4 canines 8 premolars 12 molars
Federation Dentaire International (FDI) recording system,
taken from İşcan & Steyn 2013, 262RIGHT LEFT
SKELETAL INDICATORS OF HEALTH • Bone growth (juvenile and final stature) • Dental enamel hypoplastic defects • Porotic hyperostosis • Bony responses to bacterial infection • Healed fractures • Osteoarthritis • Dental decay and tooth loss
from http://global.sbs.ohio-state.edu
OSTEOLOGICAL PROFILING • Age-at-death • Sex • Stature
OSTEOLOGICAL PROFILING
Age-at-death, Juveniles
• Dental development and eruption
• Long bone growth
• Skeletal fusion rates
InfantIMAGE/S REMOVED
AGE-AT-DEATH, JUVENILES
Dental Remains
From Moorrees et al 1963,
in Schaefer et al 2009, 80AGE-AT-DEATH, JUVENILES Dental Remains AlQahtani, S. J., M. P. Hector & H. M. Liversidge 2010 ‘Brief Communication: The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development And Eruption’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 142, 481-490
AGE-AT-DEATH, JUVENILES Long Bone Length Maresh 1970, in Schaefer et al 2009, 267 Scheuer et al 1980, in Schaefer et al 2009, 266
AGE-AT-DEATH, JUVENILES
Skeletal Fusion Rates
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First cervical (neck) Second cervical (neck)
vertebra C1 vertebra C2AGE-AT-DEATH, JUVENILES
Skeletal Fusion Rates
from Schaefer et al 2009, 276OSTEOLOGICAL PROFILING
Age-at-Death, Adults
Adult age-at-death:
• Skeletal fusion rates 17-25 yrs Young Adult
• Changes in joints of the pelvis 26-45 yrs Middle Adult
+45 yrs Old AdultAGE-AT-DEATH, ADULTS Skeletal Fusion: cranium
AGE-AT-DEATH, ADULTS
Skeletal Fusion: pelvis & spine
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Skeletal Fusion: sacrum, clavicle
Passalacqua
2010, 109AGE-AT-DEATH, ADULTS
Auricular Ilium
Auricular Ilium
Lovejoy et al 1985as depicted in Buikstra & Ubelaker 1994, 26-32
AGE-AT-DEATH, ADULTS
Pubic Symphysis
Pubic SymphysisPubic symphysis -
Suchey –Brooks method
(from Buikstra & Ubelaker 1994, 22-23
from İşcan & Steyn 2013, 104
from İşcan & Steyn 2013, 107OSTEOLOGICAL PROFILING
Sex Determination
• Metrical analysis
• Cranial variations
• Pelvic variations
From White and Folkens 1991
Human OsteologySEX DETERMINATION, ADULTS
Metrical Analysis
from İşcan & Steyn 2013, 169
from İşcan & Steyn 2013, 173SEX DETERMINATION, ADULTS
Cranium and Mandible
White and Folkens 1991, 321
Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994, 20SEX DETERMINATION, ADULTS
Pelvis
Male
FemaleSEX DETERMINATION, ADULTS Pelvis
STATURE ESTIMATION
Brothwell, D. & Zakrzewski, S. 2004. 'Metric and Non-metric
Studies of Archaeological Human Bone', in Brickley, M. &
STATURE ESTIMATION Mckinley, J. I. (eds.) Guidelines to the Standards for
Recording Human Remains, 27-33.
Institute of Field Archaeologists Paper No. 7.FORENSIC
ANTHROPOLOGY 1
Dead Men Do Tell Tales:
IMAGE/S
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Introduction &
Osteological Profiling
Dr Linda G. Lynch MIAI MIAPO
Consultant Human Osteoarchaeologist
IAFS 10 June 2021You can also read
