Over the past century, physical anthropologists have developed methods to evaluate bones to understand people who lived in the past. Such questions might include: Was this individual male or female? How old were they when they died? How tall were they? Were the people in good or poor general health? But there are no national registers of heart or dental implants. Such mandatory records would allow implants to be easily traced back to recipients or surgeons.
Forensic scientists can also compare medical images , such as x-rays or CT scans, taken before and after death. For head images, unique features such as the sinuses or the arrangement and condition of the teeth can be compared. Body scans can also be used to look for rarer skeletal features , such as fractures, amputations or cancer lesions. These scientific techniques, either individually or in combination, have been successfully used to identify large numbers of missing persons or disaster victims.
Computerisation, digitisation and miniaturisation of forensic technologies have further improved the identification process. Now, fingerprints , teeth , DNA and medical images can be quickly and easily collected and searched in real time using portable instruments at the scenes of mass disasters. Read more: How dental records will help identify bodies from MH These methods are only as good as the information we have from when the person was alive.
Distinctive physical features like scars, birthmarks and body modifications such as tattoos and piercings , could help identify someone.
A forensic anthropologist can also study a set of skeletal remains to reveal a lot about that person when they were living — including their sex, ancestry, stature, age, disease and any fatal injuries. Radiocarbon dating of teeth and bone could tell us when that person was born and died. It can even identify what they ate. But using DNA to accurately estimate age and facial features is still some way off. Douglas Owsley , examining a skeleton from historic Jamestown , discovered evidence of chops to the skull from an axe or other sharp bladed, implement.
Knife cuts were also observed on the bone. Along with other information such as biological indicators and discovery location of the remains, Dr. Owsley concluded that a year-old girl had been cannibalized after she died.
His discovery supported other historic data that the colonists of Jamestown suffered severe starvation during the harsh winter of Anthropologists at the National Museum of Natural History use a variety of techniques to analyze human remains and record their observations.
For example, the bones are typically photographed and X-rayed. Some remains may undergo CT scanning or be examined with high-powered microscopes. These techniques provide detailed information about remains without altering them while providing a visual record.
DNA analysis may be used to help establish identity. This type of testing is most often used in modern forensic case work, but mitochondrial DNA in bones and teeth can be used to confirm relationships of old remains with deceased or living descendants.
The data gathered is studied and combined to draw conclusions about the deceased individual. For a modern case, photos of the skull may be superimposed on photos of missing people to look for consistencies between the bone and fleshed form. Even in cases where no photos exist, the face can be reconstructed based on the underlying bone structure and known standards of facial tissue thicknesses. For example, using facial reconstruction, Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Dr.
David Hunt was able to bring about correct identification of the remains of a child found near Las Vegas. Owsley and Bruwelheide were able to help rebuild the likeness of the girl from Jamestown. Comparing found remains to other human skeletons is essential for many analyses. The National Museum of Natural History has one of the world's largest Biological Anthropology collections , with over 30, sets of human remains representing populations from around the world.
Many of the skeletons have associated age, sex, ancestry, and cause of death data. Individual remains with known biological information are especially valuable references.
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