9781422273432

What Do Forensic Anthropologists Do? Modern forensic anthropologists have used their skills to uncover the cause of death in countless crimes. They have solved ancient crimes as well, from providing more clues in the case of “The Princes in the Tower” in London to learning the cause of death of a 14-year-old girl whose remains were uncovered in a hearth at the early settlement of Jamestown in Virginia. Analysis of the girl’s skeleton concluded that she had been cannibalized after death, proving that Jamestown’s settlers were starving during the winter of 1609–10. Bone-analysis techniques include photographs and x-rays. Forensic anthropologists also use CT (computed tomography) scans and microscopes. Analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, the material that carries genetic information in a living organism, is included in several forensic disciplines. DNA is most often used in forensic anthropology to identify ancient remains or unidentified victims. Isotope analysis, which helps to identify the different atomic masses or weights of specific elements like carbon, indicates the age of bones and what people typically ate over periods of time during their lives. Isotope analysis may even provide information that can indicate where a person grew up or where they lived before they died. According to Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Kari Bruwelheide, “The bones are like a time capsule.” Forensic photographic techniques can help to identify deceased people by superimposing an image of a skull on photos of missing persons. Facial reconstruction is a specialized field that helps bring the faces of the dead to life. Using information gathered frommany thousands of people, standards for facial tissue thickness are rebuilt, providing amazing likenesses of people based on their bones. Forensic anthropology is sometimes divided into three main areas of research. These include the study of skeletons, or forensic osteology ; the process of carefully gathering human remains for analysis, or forensic archaeology ; and the study of how bodies decompose or

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