Forensic Examiner;
Winter2012/Spring2013, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p24-34, 11p
As you are well aware I want to be a Forensic
Anthropologist. Forensic anthropology is a science of physical anthropology and
human osteology (or the study of bones) in a legal setting, most often in
criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of
decomposition. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of
deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or
otherwise unrecognizable. The adjective "forensic" refers to the
application of this sub-field of science to a court of law. This first article
that I found refers to “Ophthalmic appliances” which can be contact lenses,
glass eyes or any number of things that eye doctors (Opticians) can do to help
improve a person’s sight. But in the case of the dead they can no longer see,
but hopefully these appliances will help people like forensic anthropologist
and law enforcement see and figure out who the killer is and bring them to
justice. This article caught my eye because it is a type of method that they
might use to determine the condition of the corpse and to give a name to the
John or Jane Doe. Now of course there
are a lot of other methods that one could use but in special circumstances
people will have one of these appliances and usually they are made specifically
for that person. And which would lead to (at least hope it leads to) the
identification of the body.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Diagnosis of Skull Fractures According to Postmortem
Interval: An Experimental Approach in a Porcine Model.
Journal
of Forensic Sciences (Blackwell Publishing Limited); Feb2013, Vol. 58 Issue
2, pS156-S162, 7p
Bones, bones, and more bones. The human body has over two
hundred bones and when dealing with a body you have to look at everything. If
it is a “fresh” body or an “old” but that hasn’t seen the day of light in a few
years, one thing is usually the same. Whether the skin is still there or not we
can always rely on the bones to help piece together what happened to this poor
unfortunate soul. In this article they talk about how bones react under certain
conditions. They performed experiments on bones to see what kind of damage
could be done and how to “read” the bones. Now did they use real human bones
you ask… well no you cannot do that, but they did use animal bones like pigs to
conduct the experiments. Doing these tests helps people like the law
enforcement and medical practitioners figure out how they died and can use that
evidence in the court of law. Knowing how to “read” bones is very important. You
have to have a watchful eye and make sure that you don’t miss anything. So by
performing these experiments it is helping other forensic anthropologist know
what to look for when they encounter their case work.
Yes it is a gruesome job, but someone has to do it and if I have the stomach for it why not. I want to help and do what I can to make this world a better place even if I am starting at the end. At least I will be able to help put families at ease. (Or at least I hope so...)
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