Forensic Anthropology Portfolio Assignment

You have been given 3 boxes of bones found near the home of a suspect in a series of homicides. Your
task today, as a consultant Forensic Anthropologist, is to sort through the descriptions of the bones and to
plan and carry out an investigation to evaluate and ultimately communicate information that will help to
classify the bones by age, sex, ancestry and by trauma type.

A. Ancestry
1. Identify this skull as either European, Asian or African. You wrote in your notes:
“Decedent A has sloped orbits, a high and prominent nasal bone and the teeth are flat to the face. The
face appears to be longer and thinner.”

European
Ancestry:
 2. Identify this skull as either European, Asian or African. Here are notes about the skull of Decedent B:
“Skull B is wider, with a wide inter--‐orbital space between the eyes. The teeth are more forward on the
face and are spatula shaped. The orbits are rectangular shaped. The nasal aperture is wide.”

African
Ancestry:

3. Identify this skull as either European, Asian or African. Your notes on the skull of Decedent C:
“Prominent forward Zygomatic Arches, round orbits, and shovel shaped incisors.”
Asian
Ancestry:

B. Age
1. Skull A had all permanent teeth including 3rd molars. Which of the following age ranges does this
21+ years
skull most likely belong to: 2--‐6 years, 8--‐15 years or 21+ years? ________________________________

In what other way could you estimate the age from these teeth?

You could identify the age also by the signs of 'wear and tear.'

2. Skull B had mostly primary teeth. It was noted that the permanent incisors and permanent 1st
13-19 months
molars were erupted, however. What is the approximate age of this decedent? __________________

3. Skull C had 4 primary incisors and 1 primary 1st Molar. No permanent teeth were noted and all other
13-16 months
primary teeth had not yet erupted. What is the approximate age range of this decedent? ___________
C. Sex:
Indicate whether the remains are male or female.

1. Decedent A had a narrow pelvis with a heart shaped pelvic inlet. The angle at the Sciatic notch was
less than 90°.

Sex: Male

2. Decedent B had a sacrum that tilted backward and the pelvis inlet was circular. Sciatic Notch was an
obtuse angle.

Sex: Female

3. Decedent C had a wider, more shallow pelvis with hip bones that flared outward slightly.

Sex: Female

D. Stature
Calculate the stature from the following femur measurement:
(Remember that 1 inch=2.54 centimeters)

Decedent A Femur= 17 inches

Femur Stature Equation: Femur length in cm X 2.6 + 65 = Height in cm.

(43.18 * 2.6) + 65 = 177. 268

E. Describe each of the decedents as fully as you can from your

findings including Age, Sex and Ancestry:
Decedent A: European, 21+, male, approx 177.268 cm
Decedent B: African female, 13- 19 months

Decedent C: Asian female, 13-16 months

F. Trauma Types:
Identify whether the following traumas occurred Antemortem, Perimortem, or postmortem. Indicate
the correct answer next to each trauma listed using the terms “antemortem”, “perimortem” and
“postmortem”

1. Decedent A:
Antemortem
Healed tibia fracture______________

Animal tooth marks on bone Postmortem

2. Decedent B:
Non--‐healed Parry fracture Perimortem or Postmortem

3. Decedent C:
An infection on the leg with no signs of immune response Perimortem
G. Identification:
The police have located a missing person report from 3 months ago for a Caucasian male who was about
5'10" and age 24. Could this match up to any of the decedents you examined in this assignment?
Explain your answer.

This could match to decedent A because they were the only male decedent and
the other two females were most likely babies. Decedent A was also about
5’9-10”. Using the age assessment, we can determine he was over 21.