Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab Where the Dead Do Tell Tales
Introduction
Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab Where the Dead Do Tell Tales is an autobiography by Bill Bass that tells of his experiences as a Forensic Anthropologist. Bass is the founder of the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Bass established the Body Farm in 1987 after a move from Kansas. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab Where the Dead Do Tell Tales explains the process of identifying the Big Four: sex, age, race, and stature of the newly found skeletons. These allow the officers to narrow it down to a handful of missing people in the area to finally come to a conclusion and a positive identification of the corpse. Bill Bass is one of the most well-known Forensic Anthropologists in the nation and his founding of the Body Farm and the University of Tennessee Knoxville has allowed for countless research and learning opportunities that open up new ways to more efficiently identify the skeletons of people found. Key Idea One: Sex/Gender of the Corpse Found The gender of the corpse found is one of the most important elements in identifying a corpse. This is important because a misunderstanding in the gender of this person found would connect this to the wrong identity. The gender of a corpse can be identified in multiple ways. When looking at an adult the easiest way to identify the gender is to examine the pelvic bone. After puberty, the woman’s pelvis broadens and the pubic bone gradually gets longer, and in doing so, the bone angles farther forward to provide a more distinct arch for the birth canal. The woman’s femur leans slightly inward beneath the hipbone. The male’s pelvis is notably narrower, and his femurs nearly hang straight down below the hipbones. Also, the skull can be used to make an estimated guess. The chin of a male is typically squarer while a female’s is usually more pointed. A woman’s forehead will round slightly while a man’s will slant backwards. Males seem to have brow ridges unlike females. The sex of a corpse is difficult to determine before adolescence because the body of a young boy is extremely similar to that of a young girl. Due to the fact of them being skeletally similar, it is almost impossible to determine the sex of a child’s skeleton. Gender of a skeleton allows the officials to name and identify the skeleton found in hopes of returning it to the family. Gender is probably the most important of the Big Four, because without it, it would be almost impossible to give the skeleton a true identity. However, this is only one step in giving the skeleton an identity. Key Concept Two: Age The next part of discovering the Big Four is age. …show more content…
The change in the pelvis over the years is clear and gives the anthropologists a small range to work with when attempting to identify their skeleton. Adult pelvises are complex; they are made of three rugged bones: the sacrum, the right innominate bone and the left innominate bone. Before puberty both innominate bones consist of three separate bones. From the late teens years until about age fifty, the pelvic bone undergoes dramatic changes that are great for determining age of a …show more content…
Knowing this is one step closer to successfully identifying this corpse.
Key Concept Three: Race The race of a skeleton is not easily identified without the skull, and sometimes this happens. Knowing the race of a corpse is highly valuable in the fact that it once again narrows down the list of possible identities. When identifying race, one way to do so is to look at the mandible of the skull. When looking at the jaw, if the teeth and jawbones extend forward from where the teeth were rooted, it is a common indicator of a Negroid skull; this is called prognathism. If it does not do that, then it is a hallmark for Caucasoid skulls. Identifying race is another stepping stone in narrowing down the list of possible people that this skeleton could be. This narrows the list greatly, cutting out all of the possibilities that are not of that race. Race is an important factor in naming this skeleton, and knowing this is one step closer to knowing who that skeleton
Introduction
Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab Where the Dead Do Tell Tales is an autobiography by Bill Bass that tells of his experiences as a Forensic Anthropologist. Bass is the founder of the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Bass established the Body Farm in 1987 after a move from Kansas. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab Where the Dead Do Tell Tales explains the process of identifying the Big Four: sex, age, race, and stature of the newly found skeletons. These allow the officers to narrow it down to a handful of missing people in the area to finally come to a conclusion and a positive identification of the corpse. Bill Bass is one of the most well-known Forensic Anthropologists in the nation and his founding of the Body Farm and the University of Tennessee Knoxville has allowed for countless research and learning opportunities that open up new ways to more efficiently identify the skeletons of people found. Key Idea One: Sex/Gender of the Corpse Found The gender of the corpse found is one of the most important elements in identifying a corpse. This is important because a misunderstanding in the gender of this person found would connect this to the wrong identity. The gender of a corpse can be identified in multiple ways. When looking at an adult the easiest way to identify the gender is to examine the pelvic bone. After puberty, the woman’s pelvis broadens and the pubic bone gradually gets longer, and in doing so, the bone angles farther forward to provide a more distinct arch for the birth canal. The woman’s femur leans slightly inward beneath the hipbone. The male’s pelvis is notably narrower, and his femurs nearly hang straight down below the hipbones. Also, the skull can be used to make an estimated guess. The chin of a male is typically squarer while a female’s is usually more pointed. A woman’s forehead will round slightly while a man’s will slant backwards. Males seem to have brow ridges unlike females. The sex of a corpse is difficult to determine before adolescence because the body of a young boy is extremely similar to that of a young girl. Due to the fact of them being skeletally similar, it is almost impossible to determine the sex of a child’s skeleton. Gender of a skeleton allows the officials to name and identify the skeleton found in hopes of returning it to the family. Gender is probably the most important of the Big Four, because without it, it would be almost impossible to give the skeleton a true identity. However, this is only one step in giving the skeleton an identity. Key Concept Two: Age The next part of discovering the Big Four is age. …show more content…
The change in the pelvis over the years is clear and gives the anthropologists a small range to work with when attempting to identify their skeleton. Adult pelvises are complex; they are made of three rugged bones: the sacrum, the right innominate bone and the left innominate bone. Before puberty both innominate bones consist of three separate bones. From the late teens years until about age fifty, the pelvic bone undergoes dramatic changes that are great for determining age of a …show more content…
Knowing this is one step closer to successfully identifying this corpse.
Key Concept Three: Race The race of a skeleton is not easily identified without the skull, and sometimes this happens. Knowing the race of a corpse is highly valuable in the fact that it once again narrows down the list of possible identities. When identifying race, one way to do so is to look at the mandible of the skull. When looking at the jaw, if the teeth and jawbones extend forward from where the teeth were rooted, it is a common indicator of a Negroid skull; this is called prognathism. If it does not do that, then it is a hallmark for Caucasoid skulls. Identifying race is another stepping stone in narrowing down the list of possible people that this skeleton could be. This narrows the list greatly, cutting out all of the possibilities that are not of that race. Race is an important factor in naming this skeleton, and knowing this is one step closer to knowing who that skeleton