William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection was created in 1981 to conduct research on time since death by Dr. William Bass. The donation program provides necessary cadavers to conduct research in forensic taphonomy, along with educating and training students at the University of Tennessee. All individuals donated to the skeletal collection are also used to conduct research at the Anthropological Research Facility. The Skeletal Collection is a major resource in studying the modern American population.
All bodies in the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection are donated by individuals prior to death, the family of the diseased individual, or the medical examiner. The Forensic Anthropology Center continues to grow as awareness for the program increases. Currently they have curated about 900 individual with birth year between 1892-2011. Most individuals in the collection have birth after 1940. The program in total encompasses individuals of both sexes and all ages.
The Bass Donated Skeletal Collection represents the current population of the United States, including individuals from all walks of life. The individuals in the collection have known, sex, age, ancestry, body mass and cause of death information. The information is added to the Forensic Data Bank, which is the major source of data …show more content…
Bass Skeletal Collection unique because it’s data is derived from a current living population. The data helps study the current population and evaluate the changing American population. It helps conduct research on the affects of obesity on bone, diabetes, alcoholism, and trauma patterns. A recent research by Gregory E. Berg, conducted using the Skeletal Collection, was estimating age in the female population using pubic bone. Another study, using the Bass Skeletal Collection was conducted, by Shannon May. Shannon May analyzed the correlation between body mass and bone mass, as reflected through cremation