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Assignment C
Unit 14
Skeletal Identification
Identifying skeletal remains is vital to a case in court, it proves who the person may be, their
age (at death), sex, stature and ancestry. This is vital in identifying a victim of a case, and
any pathologies or injuries they may have had. All these clues tie into
who they were, and what may have happened in the events leading to
their death. Within this report, I will be analysing my work on skeletal
identification, and other forensic methods and how they may be
improved, as well as the advantages.
What is a skeletal inventory?
A skeletal inventory is a record undertaken by forensic anthropologists to
document any missing parts of a skeleton, any pathologies (or injuries)
they may have, and creating the estimation for their biological profile
(detailing sex, age, ancestry and stature).
Within my skeletal inventory, I estimated the age and sex of 2 sets of
skeletal remains, using both the skull and the rest of the body.
Examination
Using sketching, the parts of the present in the skull and body were
shaded in with pencil, whilst the part’s absent were left blank. This is
also important in determining the number of individuals, if you were to
record two pelvises, you’d have identified there are two individuals
present, this may not be obvious initially because of commingled
remains. The conditions of the bones and any damage was also
labelled and identified. This means I was able to determine what
damage was already present to the bone, and know it was post-
mortem damage. Things such as damage to the pelvis was present,
due to holes being found within the bone, fraying on the vertebrae and
damage to a joint on the left femur was also present.
Sex Estimation
Sex can be estimated using the pelvic bones and the skull
viscerocranium and neurocranium bones. Between female and male
pelvises, there are several indicators on the pelvis that indicate sex. There
are ‘36 landmarks and geometric morphometric methods’ (M. K Spradley, 2016.)(1) to
determine sex from the pelvis. In our examination, I looked at 25 characteristics of the pelvis.
These consist of the greater sciatic notch on the pelvis, in females, this is typically in a ‘U-
shape’ or at an obtuse angle, whereas in males this is typically more ‘V-shaped’ and at an
acute angle. (“Forensic Anthropology – the Forensics Library”, 2009.) (2) In my remains, I
determined this to be probable male, this is due to the more acute and v-shaped angle in
, 2
comparison to other skeletal remains within the lab. However, this could
be due to a number of reasons, and the visual results and analysis of
pubic bones may not always be conclusive, as certain traits may be
male or female despite the actual sex of the skeleton. This is due to
females being able to carry a child, they have to have wider hip bones.
The pelvis can also show whether a female has previously borne a child
in her life, this shows how vital the pelvis is in being able to identify
characteristics, as it can then link the potential victim into having
children, and medical records may be able to be accessed maybe
indicating further any illnesses a victim may of
had. If the pelvis has the overall shape of
being low and broad , the remains may be
female, however if they
are high and
narrow they may be male. Using figure 3, it
shows my examination and estimation using
the remains. Overall, my estimation concluded 11 female traits, 6
probable female traits, 5 probable male traits and 1 male trait.
Therefore, I concluded that based on the characteristics of the
pelvic bone, the body was perhaps female. This included further
visual tests, such as looking at the pubic symphysis height, labelled
in Figure 5. I concluded this to be of a probable female trait, this is
because compared to the other remains we had access to, it was
concluded whilst it was short, it was not the shortest height, and
there were others that had a shorter height, mine being in the more
short/mid-range.With the sub pubic angle, I identified this to be probable
male, it presented as being more narrow and v shaped compared to more broad and U-
shaped as would be seen in a female. The traits on
both of the pelvic bones matched, therefore being
from the same set of remains and not multiple. We
were aware our skull and body were 2 separate sets
of remains, but this makes it further concluded. In
an actual excavation however, you may assume
that you have a full skeleton when you don’t as it
may be different parts, using sex you can see any
differences in this. However, using this method is
only visual evidence, it may be ambiguous (the greater sciatic notch in a
case study had an accuracy of ‘79.15%’ (Đurić et al. 2005.) (3) in identifying the sex, whilst
the subpubic angle was of greater reliance.) as some traits do not perfectly align with the
actual sex, and visual evidence can differ depending on each person that analyses the
skeleton (as to whether they think a certain angle may be greater or smaller with enough
difference to determine different sexes). This effectiveness for identifying the sex is great,
with an accuracy of usually ‘95-98%’ (Garvin, 2012.) (4). However, if a set of remains is too
damaged or missing vital parts of bone, this may quickly become inaccurate, therefore
having limitations.
How each trait is scored:
M - male estimation
Assignment C
Unit 14
Skeletal Identification
Identifying skeletal remains is vital to a case in court, it proves who the person may be, their
age (at death), sex, stature and ancestry. This is vital in identifying a victim of a case, and
any pathologies or injuries they may have had. All these clues tie into
who they were, and what may have happened in the events leading to
their death. Within this report, I will be analysing my work on skeletal
identification, and other forensic methods and how they may be
improved, as well as the advantages.
What is a skeletal inventory?
A skeletal inventory is a record undertaken by forensic anthropologists to
document any missing parts of a skeleton, any pathologies (or injuries)
they may have, and creating the estimation for their biological profile
(detailing sex, age, ancestry and stature).
Within my skeletal inventory, I estimated the age and sex of 2 sets of
skeletal remains, using both the skull and the rest of the body.
Examination
Using sketching, the parts of the present in the skull and body were
shaded in with pencil, whilst the part’s absent were left blank. This is
also important in determining the number of individuals, if you were to
record two pelvises, you’d have identified there are two individuals
present, this may not be obvious initially because of commingled
remains. The conditions of the bones and any damage was also
labelled and identified. This means I was able to determine what
damage was already present to the bone, and know it was post-
mortem damage. Things such as damage to the pelvis was present,
due to holes being found within the bone, fraying on the vertebrae and
damage to a joint on the left femur was also present.
Sex Estimation
Sex can be estimated using the pelvic bones and the skull
viscerocranium and neurocranium bones. Between female and male
pelvises, there are several indicators on the pelvis that indicate sex. There
are ‘36 landmarks and geometric morphometric methods’ (M. K Spradley, 2016.)(1) to
determine sex from the pelvis. In our examination, I looked at 25 characteristics of the pelvis.
These consist of the greater sciatic notch on the pelvis, in females, this is typically in a ‘U-
shape’ or at an obtuse angle, whereas in males this is typically more ‘V-shaped’ and at an
acute angle. (“Forensic Anthropology – the Forensics Library”, 2009.) (2) In my remains, I
determined this to be probable male, this is due to the more acute and v-shaped angle in
, 2
comparison to other skeletal remains within the lab. However, this could
be due to a number of reasons, and the visual results and analysis of
pubic bones may not always be conclusive, as certain traits may be
male or female despite the actual sex of the skeleton. This is due to
females being able to carry a child, they have to have wider hip bones.
The pelvis can also show whether a female has previously borne a child
in her life, this shows how vital the pelvis is in being able to identify
characteristics, as it can then link the potential victim into having
children, and medical records may be able to be accessed maybe
indicating further any illnesses a victim may of
had. If the pelvis has the overall shape of
being low and broad , the remains may be
female, however if they
are high and
narrow they may be male. Using figure 3, it
shows my examination and estimation using
the remains. Overall, my estimation concluded 11 female traits, 6
probable female traits, 5 probable male traits and 1 male trait.
Therefore, I concluded that based on the characteristics of the
pelvic bone, the body was perhaps female. This included further
visual tests, such as looking at the pubic symphysis height, labelled
in Figure 5. I concluded this to be of a probable female trait, this is
because compared to the other remains we had access to, it was
concluded whilst it was short, it was not the shortest height, and
there were others that had a shorter height, mine being in the more
short/mid-range.With the sub pubic angle, I identified this to be probable
male, it presented as being more narrow and v shaped compared to more broad and U-
shaped as would be seen in a female. The traits on
both of the pelvic bones matched, therefore being
from the same set of remains and not multiple. We
were aware our skull and body were 2 separate sets
of remains, but this makes it further concluded. In
an actual excavation however, you may assume
that you have a full skeleton when you don’t as it
may be different parts, using sex you can see any
differences in this. However, using this method is
only visual evidence, it may be ambiguous (the greater sciatic notch in a
case study had an accuracy of ‘79.15%’ (Đurić et al. 2005.) (3) in identifying the sex, whilst
the subpubic angle was of greater reliance.) as some traits do not perfectly align with the
actual sex, and visual evidence can differ depending on each person that analyses the
skeleton (as to whether they think a certain angle may be greater or smaller with enough
difference to determine different sexes). This effectiveness for identifying the sex is great,
with an accuracy of usually ‘95-98%’ (Garvin, 2012.) (4). However, if a set of remains is too
damaged or missing vital parts of bone, this may quickly become inaccurate, therefore
having limitations.
How each trait is scored:
M - male estimation
