A FIELD GUIDE FOR HUMAN SKELETAL IDENTIFICATION

Book excerpt: Forensic anthropologists need this book to provide quick access to information pertinent to procedures involved in human identification, especially of the sort not easily consigned to memory. This is a reference guide for the professional forensic anthropologist to utilize in the field, presupposing an expert knowledge of human skeletal and dental anatomy. This manual is divided into the four most fudamen-tal areas of human identification: ethnic affiliation, attribution of sex and estimations of age and stature. Because many new techniques and modifications have been developed since this field guide was first published in 1987, it is appropriate to bring it up-to-date, incorporating these new advances into this revised edition. Among these most important changes are: (1) Cranial and post-cranial discriminant function coefficients for determining ethnic affiliation and sex, generated from measurements taken on individuals represented in the Forensic Data Bank at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville - coefficients more applicable to modern individuals than those developed from older anatomical collections. (2) Substitution of the Suchey-Brooks method for the Gilbert McKern method for age determination by pubic symphysis maturation, especially because the forrmer appears to be more accurate for females. (3) Inclusion of age estimates for males and females by sternal rib metamorphosis which allows estimates to be made on individuals older than allowed for by pubic symphysis maturation. These and other additions, including new corrections for age in estimating stature in older adults, makes this second edition much more useful during human identification.