UNIT 6 ACUNIT 6 ACTIVITY 

The​ Tales Bones Tell 

In a remote area in the mountains, a hiker discovered several bones lying on a 
hillside. She called the local police, and they quickly secured the scene. Now, as a 
forensic anthropologist, it’s your job to analyze the find. What can you learn from 
these remains? Use the information below and your knowledge from the unit to 
answer the investigators’ questions. 
TABLE 1 Bone Inventory 
Bone Type  Length  Condition / Features 
Humerus  30.0 cm  Intact, few scratches 

Tibia  43.8 cm  Evidence of healed fracture, 

gnawed ends 

Ulna  23.7 cm  Gnawed/scratches on ends 

Femur 1  58.4 cm  Intact, few scratches, joint 

edges are rough 

Femur 2  52.8 cm  Intact, few scratches 

Pelvis    Shallow, wide opening and 

pubic arch 

Cranium    Bullet hole in frontal bone, 

fractures, prominent brow 
ridges 

Vertebrae / spine    Partial, scattered, signs of 

osteoarthritis on vertebrae 

TABLE 2 Formulas for determining height based on 

lengths of long bones 
Bone Type  Female Equation  Male Equation 
 Humerus  3.36 * length + 57.97 cm  2.89 * length + 78.10 cm 

Tibia  2.90 * length + 61.53 cm  2.42 * length + 81.93 cm 

Ulna  4.27 * length + 57.76 cm  3.76 * length + 75.55 cm 

Femur  2.47 * length + 54.13 cm  2.32 * length + 65.53 cm 

Scatter pattern: 
The bones were found in three separate groups within a 50-foot radius. The bones in 
each distinct group were within 10-15 feet of each other. 
Group 1: Humerus, ulna, pelvis 
Group 2: Tibia, spine, femur 1 
Group 3: Femur 2, cranium 
Questions: 
1. Forensic anthropologists can use the length of long bones to determine a 
person’s height. Find the possible male or female height for each long bone that 
was found. Use the formulas in the table above to calculate height in 
centimeters. Record your answers in the table below. 

TABLE 3 Record your answers 

Long  Bone Length  Height if Female  Height if 
Bone  Male 
Humerus  30.0 cm  158.77 cm  164.80 cm 

Tibia  43.8 cm  188.55 cm  187.926 cm 

Ulna  23.7 cm  158.959 cm  164.662 cm 

Femur 1  58.4 cm  198.378 cm  201.018 cm 

Femur 2  52.8 cm  184.546 cm  188.026 cm 

2. Based on your height calculations, could some of these bones have belonged to 
the same person? Which ones? Keep in mind that the measurements are 
approximate. 
a. The humerus and ulna bones could have come from the same person.
3. Of the eight bones found, which do you think probably belonged to a man? 
Which likely belonged to a woman? Which aren’t you sure about? Can you tell 
anything about the victims’ age? Explain your answers. (three to five sentences). 
a. 3 of the bones belonged to the man. The reason for this is the way they are
shaped. Although for the most part all bones in the human body are the same
there are some dog fences between the men and the women.
4. How many individuals (male and/or female) do you think were present? Do the 
scatter patterns support your theory? (one to two sentences) 
a. I believe in total there were three in total two males one female. There were a
mixture of bones but most were male.
5. Do the bones show animal activity? How can you tell? (one to two sentences) 
a. They do seem to show some animal activity in the fact that two of the bones are
a lot shorter than they normally are.
6. Do the bones show evidence of time, cause, or manner of death? Explain. (three 
to five sentences) 
a. Besides the decrease in length no. Their length could be from animals chewing
on the bones which would’ve most likely caused them to down size.
7. The local police have provided you with some missing persons reports. Look at 
the information for each missing person and compare it to your findings. Could 
the bones belong to any of these missing persons? If so, which ones, and why? 
Keep in mind that 1 inch = 2.54 cm. (2-3 sentences) 
a. They could. The reason for this is any bone can match to a person as long as it
has the right measurements and by judging by the size of them that they possibly
were from the beginning we can tell that they could very well have belonged to
one of the people.
b.