Forensic anthropology

wondered why I was put on Earth. What do I bring to the table that this world needs? But with anthropology, I think I have found my calling. I never knew what my purpose was until I took a humanitarian trip to Malawi, a little country on the eastern side of Africa. During my time there I realized what I wanted to do with my life; I want to help people. I believe I can do this through anthropology. Anthropology is the study of humans and cultures, and through this field, I can fulfill my purpose…

A subdiscipline of physical anthropology that uses the characteristics of bone structure to determine the identity of human remains and present those findings in a court of law. A biological profile is a set of characteristics that an individual possessed while alive that can also be determined from their remains. The “big four” elements that make up a biological profile are Age Geographic ancestry Sex Stature (height while alive) Dental Development Observation of stage of tooth formation…

The process of estimating a persons stature from a skeletal remains has a long history in physical anthropology. The correlation between a persons height and the length of their bones, throughout all ages allows the osteologist a better frame from which they can reconstruct an individuals stature, with the use of different skeletal elements. The use of body collections such as the Hamann and Todd collection that house around 2,600 skeletal remains of individual, who died in the 1900’s are…

Race in Anthropology The issue in this debate is whether there is a biological factor for races or is there an environmental construction for race. The issue of race is important in our society and in history of the United States there has always been racial conflicts and discrimination. This issue is still relevant today as minorities are still fights discrimination and racial hatred from the prejudice. Racial hatred groups exist in society to prove dominance over other racial groups. Racism…

The video on careers in anthropology highlighted the great diversity within the field that many people may be unaware of. While years ago most anthropologists were employed by colleges and universities, recently more and more anthropologists are being placed in other positions as there are not enough opportunities in institutions of education for all of the anthropologists that are being trained. These jobs include many positions that involve working with governments of every level, working in…

My primary interest of study lies in the field of forensic anthropology, in which I will analyze human remains while using a variety of techniques based on forensic chemistry to solve criminal cases. Moreover, forensic chemistry is a field of study that inspires my passion for science, while readying me for a future career as a forensic anthropologist. Ultimately, being an attendant at the Summer Pre-College Forensic Chemistry program at UMass Amherst will allow me to study a field that…

they can tell the story of their deaths through their bones. Of course they need a little help from forensic anthropologists. Forensic anthropologists are people that examine human remains to find the identity of unknown people and find out how they die. To do their job, forensic anthropologists need certain things. The most important thing they need is a body. After examining the body, forensic anthropologists will determine the age, gender, and race of a person. A crime scene…

Holmes/Scarpetta Project- The Valley of Fear What discipline was involved? Digital Forensics (cryptology)- The process of encrypting messages and examining digital media forensically to find, analyze, and present facts and opinions. What was the equipment used? The ciphers represent the pages of previous editions of Whitaker's Almanack. The first number represented the page number in the Almanac. The second number, C2, was the column number on the page in the book. The numbers that…

The Bone Collector, a forensic science movie, it is often portrayed as a movie that can be easily solved within a few hours based off shows that deals with forensic work like NCIS, Law and Order, Cold Case, and Snapped; but the solving time is often misunderstood. The Bone Collector is specifically based on forensic anthropology, which is the application of science to the physical by applying skeletal analysis and techniques in archaeology to solving criminal cases. Forensic anthropologists…

A forensic anthropologist is trained in the study of human skeletal biology and typically use their training to identify deceased when skeletal remains are the only useful evidence. They determine whether the skeletal remains are for a human or nonhuman. They use their training to identify the sex of the individual based on the skeletal remains found. The forensic anthropologist can estimate the time of death and the cause of death when the remains are not suitable for examination by a…