Forensic

Anthropology
Article
Jigsaw Activity
By Science 300
In this activity, students will:
• Read a piece of text
• Identify and discuss important vocabulary
• Generate questions for discussion
• Summarize a text
• Compare and Contrast themes across multiple
texts
• Learn about the field of forensic
anthropology

Teacher Preparation- Slides 1-3

Potential articles to use- slide 3
Student directions- slides 4-6
Student Sheet- SliDes 7 and 8
Possible discussion points- slides 9-14\
• For this activity, each student will be reading one article, but there will be 4 or 5 articles in the
class as a whole.

• Find 4-5 articles that are related to forensic anthropology applications in the field. I like to
choose various reading levels, lengths, and levels of interest so that I can differentiate for my low
and high end students.

• Print 5-6 copies of each article (depends on your class size) so that there are about equal
numbers of each article in your class.

• Then I go through and write the number 1 on one copy of each article, then the number 2, and
so on, so that I have numbered groups that have each article represented.

• Now comes the fun part…

• Students read their article once on their own, circling unfamiliar terminology.

• Then students group up so that all the people with the same article get together. They always
try to get together by number here, but that’s later! In these article groups, they complete the
organizer together.

• Students then re-group by numbers (so that there is at least one person representing each
article in the group). They complete the organizer together.

• Finally, students complete their individual reflection at the bottom of the organizer.

• I find that the students generate really good discussion throughout this process.
 Ideas for articles
• I found articles simply by googling “forensic anthropology” under the news tab and browsing for a few that had similar
themes.
• Here are the ones I used most recently when I taught this unit:

http://morphemetales.wordpress.com/2004/11/20/forensic-anthropologists-to-exhume-14-mass-graves-in-iraq/
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/25/sbm.bosnia.bone.detectives/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/qa-forensic-anthropologist-mercedes-doretti/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/foresnic-cemetery-scam/
http://aaanet.org/press/an/1105/Gould.htm
Not my typo- actual url 
 On your own…
• READ YOUR ARTICLE.
• As you read, circle or highlight
words that are unfamiliar to you or
that you don’t understand.
 In your article group…
• EVERYONE should discuss and write down the
following, and be prepared to share it with a
small group later on.
– Important or unknown vocabulary words that most
people probably would need clarified: come up with
a definition as a group.
– What challenges did the investigators face in this
particular case?
– How did the investigators go about making matches
in this case?
– After the discussion, INDIVIDUALLY Summarize the
article in EXACTLY 20 words. Choose them
carefully. 
 In your numbered group…
• Share the information about your article
with the group. If you don’t have all the
articles represented, let me know!
• EVERYONE should discuss and write down:
– What questions do you have about these cases?
– What common themes do you see in all the
articles?
– Write down vocabulary from other groups that
you didn’t have on your article list
• INDIVIDUALLY, answer the reflection
question at the bottom.
Your Article Title: Group Number:
What challenges in identification do anthropologists face in this case?
Vocab: Definition decided by group

How do anthropologists go about making matches / determining identity

in this case?

Individual summary of the article in exactly 20 words:

 What questions do you have about these cases?
Vocabulary words from other articles:

What common themes do you see between the articles?

Individual reflection: What personal characteristics do you think a person would have to have in order to be a good forensic anthropologist?
If you use the articles linked in this document…

WHAT MY MOST RECENT CLASS

CAME UP WITH…
Forensic Anthropology- Article Vocab
• Pre-mortem or ante-mortem - before death
• Inhume - to bury
• Exhume or dis-inter - to “dig up” a person’s remains
• Commingled/commingling - mixed up, mixed together
• Articulated - bones are connected to each other
• Disarticulated - the bones are not physically connected
• Excavating - dig up an area in a controlled way
• Clandestine - secret, unplanned, random
• Sepulcher - small building/tomb/coffin enclosure
• Repatriated – when something is brought back to its “home” or where
it belongs- i.e. bones and/or belongings given to family members
• Genocide - war focused on killing particular ethnic groups/ mass
executions
• Coup - when a group overthrows a government, many times by
executing the leaders, usually a war follows
• Los Desaparacidos - “the disappeared”; South American governments
would kidnap and execute political opponents, often tossing their
bodies from airplanes, into mass graves, etc.
 Mass grave/disaster challenges
• Multiple skeletons that get mixed together
• Bodies often moved more than once, usually
not very carefully (think bulldozers)
• Scattered remains (sometimes miles apart)
• Weather and decay can damage the bones
• In some cases the bodies are very similar
– All males, all young or old, many relatives together
 Identification of Bodies
• Careful excavation of sites- layer by layer to keep
disturbances minimal
• Medical records- breaks, pins, screws,
replacements, etc.
• Tattoos, scars, piercings, etc.
• Clothing & jewelry / belongings nearby
• DNA testing to match
– bones to each other (one person’s skeleton)
– related skeletons (dead family members)
– living relatives
Fields of Forensic Science Involved
• F. Anthropology- study of remains, bones,
cultural aspects
• F. Odontology- study of teeth and jaw
• F. Pathology- study of disease/disorders;
determines cause of death