Introduction to Forensic Anthropology

Steven N. Byers has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico (UNM), U.S.A. Now retired, he worked for a number of years on various campuses of UNM, teaching courses in Forensic Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, and Archaeology. He is currently serving on the Anthropology Consensus Body of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Standards Board, in addition to focusing on Southeastern United States bioarchaeology. Byers’ publications with Taylor & Francis include Forensic Anthropology Lab Manual (in its 4th edition). Chelsey A. Juarez is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and the Director of the Fresno State Forensic Anthropology Laboratory at California State University, Fresno, U.S.A. She is also Director of the Central California Missing and Unidentified Deceased Persons Cold Case Initiative, a 19-county initiative to identify the deceased unidentified in rural Central California. Her research interests focus on isotopic investigations of provenance and diet with a special focus on the Latino Diaspora, and the U.S.-Mexico border through time. In addition, Juarez has researched and written about child abuse, intimate partner violence, and case accuracy trends in Forensic Anthropology. Dr. Juarez is a first generation Mexican-American. She holds a Doctorate from the University of California Santa Cruz in Biological Anthropology with a specialization in Forensic Anthropology and the Latino Diaspora.

1. Introduction 2. Bones, Teeth, Measurements, and Methods 3. Establishing Medicolegal Significance 4. Recovery Scene Methods 5. Estimating Postmortem Interval 6. Initial Treatment and Examination 7. Attribution of Population Affinity 8. Attribution of Sex 9. Estimation of Age at Death 10. Calculation of Stature 11. Death, Trauma, and the Skeleton 12. Projectile Trauma 13. Blunt Trauma 14. Sharp and Miscellaneous Trauma 15. Antemortem Skeletal Conditions 16. Postmortem Changes to Bone 17. Additional Aspects of Individualization 18. Obtaining an Identification 19. Conclusion