Forensics Ch.14

Bone ossification can indicate the age of the victim. What is the approximate age that the femur head is fused to the shaft?

10-12

After all bones have become fully developed, an adult has 206 bones. A baby has:

270 bones

Although ossification begins before birth, for some bones, ossification can take more than:

50 years

Which ethnic background tends to have a round nasal cavity, rectangular eye orbits, and some degree of prognathism (extension of the maxilla beyond the face)?

African

The _____ Board of Forensic Anthropology was formed in 1977 to certify forensic anthropologists.

American

Bones contain a diary of injuries, diseases, and nutritional deficiencies. What would the bones of the women who, in the 1920s, painted watch dials to make them glow in the dark have revealed about the materials they worked with?

As they used radium on the watch dials, their bones absorbed radioactive radium

As muscle in males tens to be larger than in females, males tend to have a more robust skeleton than females. This gender-based difference in skeletons makes possible to determine the gender of skeletal remains regardless of the age of the victim at the time of death.

False

Because bones can heal, a bone fracture is no longer evidence after 10 years.

False

In 1998, an anthropology subcommittee of OSAC (Organization of Scientific Area Committees) was established to standardize recovery and analysis of human remains.

False

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of skeletal remains can be used to establish individual identity.

False

The number of bones in the body increases from the time of birth to adulthood.

False

In 1895, the first known use of craniofacial superimposition identified the remains of ____________.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Bones that break when someone is still alive tend to break unevenly, whereas bones broken long after death show clean breaks.

True

During the development of a fetus, bones begin as cartilage, the same flexible material that makes up the ears. The process of bone replacing cartilage is called ossification.

True

In 1932, the F.B.I. announced the opening of its first crime lab. The Smithsoman Institution become a working partner, aiding in the identification of remains.

True

Skulls can often be used to determine gender. The male's frontal bone is low and sloping, whereas the female's frontal bone is higher and more rounded.

True

Figure 14-16:

at least 50 years old

What protects our vital organs?

bones

Forensic anthropologists test bones for the presence of different isotopes of carbon and strontium to provide clues as to where a person lived and how long they lived in that area. Strontium is an element found in dissolved groundwater. Stable isotopes of carbon are found in food. Which stable isotopes of carbon were used to do an analysis of the skeletal remains of the Jamestown colonist mentioned in the text?

carbon-12 and carbon-13

Which method is especially helpful for skeletal analysis when identification is impossible due to bums or decomposition?

comparative radiography

A forensic anthropologist noted that a set of skeletal remains exhibited the following traits: wide subpubic angle, a sacrum curved outward, no visible growth plates, and porous bones. Which description is consistent with these characteristics?

female over 30 with osteoporosis

To distinguish between the male and female pelvis, the sub pubic angle is:

greater than ninety degrees on the female and less than ninety degrees on the male.

The technique of photographic of video superimposition can be used to match an existing photograph or video to someone's remains for the purpose of ___________

identification

Bands of tissue connecting two or more bones together are _________.

ligaments

Nuclear DNA can be extracted from bones and teeth to determine personal identification. If, however, the nuclear DNA is degraded or damaged, there is another substance which is more plentiful and durable that can be analyzed.

mitochondrial DNA

Punctures resulting from sharp-force trauma, blunt-force trauma and gunshot wounds all have distinctive patterns. Blunt objects generally create which type of injury?

more cracks radiating from the site of the impact, and more damage to the surface of the bone

In childhood, bones are built at a faster rate than the rate at which they break down. However, after age 30, the process begins to reverse, bones lose minerals and break down faster than they are built. Some aging people, with especially low bone density, are at risk for:

osteoporosis

Which is the most reliable one to determine the sex of skeleton?

pelvic bone

The process by which a forensic anthropologist attempts to distinguish between damage to bones made during life (for example, by weapons) and damage to bones caused by the environment after death is ____________

skeletal trauma analysis

Which suture(s) on a skull begin(s) closing after age 60?

squamosal suture

What connects a muscle to a bone?

tendon

A joint is the location where bones meet. Joints contain several kinds of connective tissue. These include:

tendons, ligaments,and cartilage

Determination of ancestry from skeletal remains is difficult. Ancestry is probably best indicated by:

the bones of the skull

The main suture mark(s) on a skull, marking where the bones are growing together, are:

the coronal, the sagittal,and the lambdoidal