History of Forensic Anthropology - Lecture 1

Question 1

How is the UK and the American different?

Answer 1

UK focuses more on archaeology.
America is where the legal and medical side comes in

Question 2

How did Forensic Anthropology start in Europe? Who is responsible for it?

Answer 2

With Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer (1747 - 1801) recognizing in 1788 that fingerprints were unique to each person

Question 3

What is Phrenology? Who discovered it and how is it important to the development of Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 3

It was discovered by Franz Joseph Gall in 1796 and was an attempt to determine someone’s mental state and whether they had criminal intentions by looking at the morphology of their skull. It was another step in the direction of Forensic Anthropology

Question 4

What did Phrenology contribute to?

Answer 4

Racist ideologies, gender stereotyping, diagnosing mental issues and criminal tendencies.

Question 5

When science first used in Forensic Anthropology? What scientific methods were used?

Answer 5

Turn of the 19th century in Europe.
Early toxicology
Furthering fingerprint analysis
Beginnings of blood typing and detection

Question 6

What is toxicology?

Answer 6

Testing blood for certain things

Question 7

Which author made Forensic Anthropology popular? With what series? Who inspired the character?

Answer 7

Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes. Doyle’s previous medical prof, Dr. Joseph Bell who encouraged Doyle to let the evidence lead to a conclusion.

Question 8

What is Anthropometry? Who invented it? How did it contribute to Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 8

Anthropometry is a system of identification based on someone’s specific measurements. It was invented by the French cop, Alphonse Bertillon (1853 - 1914). It helped with the development of analyzing and recording identifying features of a person.

Question 9

What else did Alphonse Bertillon do that contributed to Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 9

He standardized the mugshot in 1888 which helped with analyzing a person’s anthropometry.

Question 10

Who is Juan Vucetich (1858 - 1925)? What are the two important things that he did?

Answer 10

Created first method of recording people’s fingerprints
Created the first fingerprint bureau in 1892

Question 11

What was special about Vucetich’s fingerprint recording method?

Answer 11

It incorporated Anthropometry by identifying things like swirl patterns.

Question 12

What are the dates for the Formative Period of Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 12

1800 - 1938

Question 13

What are the dates for the Consolidation Period of Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 13

1939 - 1971

Question 14

What are the dates for the Establishment Period in Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 14

1972 - 2006

Question 15

What are the dates for the Expansion Period on Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 15

2007 - today

Question 16

How many periods are there in Forensic Anthropology? Name them in order and their dates.

Answer 16

1. Formative Period: 1800 - 1938
2. Consolidation Period: 1939 - 1971
3. Establishment Period: 1972 - 2006
4. Expansion Period: 2007 - today

Question 17

What type of careers studied Forensic Anthropology in the Formative Period in the US?

Answer 17

physicians, anatomists, and some physical anthropologists

Question 18

Was there any training or standardized system during the Formative Period?

Answer 18

No. Understanding the difference in age and sex were done by physicians and such doing their own research and self teaching

Question 19

Who was the founder of Forensic Anthropology in the US? What were his contributions?

Answer 19

• Thomas Dwight (1843-1911)
• Developed methods to estimate age, sex, and stature from skeletons
• Documented and published his findings in his book, “The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medical Study,” (1878) which was the first time an understanding of the skeleton was printed

Question 20

Who created the first large collections of humans skeletons? When did he do it and how many does it have today? What was and is it used for?

Answer 20

• Thomas Wingate Todd
• in 1912 and it now contains over 3000 skeletons
• The skeletons are studied and helped create sex estimations focusing on the pelvis

Question 21

Why is the 1912 collection of skeletons not as helpful in modern times?

Answer 21

• Because humans change and evolve over time
• Skeletons in stasis from over 100 years ago look different from skeletons now which will create out of date analysis

Question 22

What are the two identifying factors of the Formative Period (1800-1938)

Answer 22

1. was conducted by physicians, anatomists, and some physical anthropologists
2. practitioners were either informally trained in identification of skeletal remains or self taught

Question 23

What two things marked the beginning of the Consolidation Period (1939-1971)?

Answer 23

1. beginning of WW2
2. publication of “Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material” (1939)

Question 24

Who wrote “Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material?”

Answer 24

Wilton Marion Krogman (1903-1987)

Question 25

What was Wilton Marion Krogman interested in?

Answer 25

1. Interested in dental anthropology 2. Child growth and development 3. Development of Forensic Anthropology as a discipline

Question 26

How was WW2 and the Korean War important to Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 26

New methods were formed using unidentified dead and skeletal remains of fallen Japanese and Korean soldiers

Question 27

What is the controversy with using the unidentified dead of WW2 and the Korean War in Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 27

Still housed in Hawaii and won't give the now identifiable skeletons back to their home countries and families.

Question 28

What are the four key points that mark the Consolidation Period (1972-2006)

Answer 28

1. Forensic Anthropology became more professionalized 2. Creation of the Physical Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 3. American Board of Forensic Anthropology established in 1977 4. T. Dale Stewart wrote "Essentials of Forensic Anthropology" (1979)

Question 29

How did Forensic Anthropology become more professionalized in the Consolidation Period (1972-2006)?

Answer 29

- new courses and departments and standardized teaching - now a position of a professional forensic anthropologist

Question 30

What did "Essentials of Forensic Anthropology" (1979) focus on? How was it centralized in the US?

Answer 30

1. focused on characteristics of death (especially gun shots) and how a body would break down in different US climates 2. centralized in the US because it wrote about how bodies would break down in US climates

Question 31

What is a body farm and why are they important in Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 31

Institutions that people can donate their bodies to to be studied and used for research

Question 32

Who created the first body farm? When? Where is it?

Answer 32

1. William M. Bass (1929-) 2. 1981 3. Knoxville, Texas

Question 33

What is another important aspect of Forensic Anthropology that began to be implemented in the Consolidation Period?

Answer 33

To investigate cases of genocide and look at mass graves.

Question 34

What were Clyde C. Snow's contributions to Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 34

1. Developed the Forensic Anthropology protocol used today 2. Worked with Argentinian human rights groups documenting and exhuming mass graves 3. Created the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team in 1991 4. Involved in identifying bodies in the Bosnia and Herzegovina genocide in the 90's

Question 35

How many cases of genocide happen every 1.4 years?

Answer 35

1

Question 36

Between 1956 to 2016 how many people were murdered due to genocide?

Answer 36

50 million

Question 37

What are the criteria for something to be considered a genocide?

Answer 37

1. killing members of the group 2. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group 3. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part 4. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group 5. forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Question 38

What are the key points in the Expansion Period (2007-)?

Answer 38

- expansion in science within Forensic Anthropology - formation for the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology in 2008 - recognized the need for standardization

Question 39

What are the purposes of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology?

Answer 39

- to standardize and identify the best forensic anthropological methods - to make a common standardization and share practices with all forensic anthropology communities

Question 41

What types of jobs can a forensic anthropologist have?

Answer 41

- lab management - crime scene documentation - missing persons administration - quality assurance - forensic project management

Question 42

Who is Amy Mundorff? What university is she at?

Answer 42

- she worked on the 9/11 disaster in identifying remains like eviscerated bone - got forensic anthropology to extend to dealing with natural and non natural disasters - University of Knoxvile

Question 43

When was the Canadian Society of Forensic Science established?

Answer 43

1953

Question 44

What are the two different systems in Canada? What do they do?

Answer 44

1. Coroner: - conduct much of the death inquiries in Canada - do not require medical training (except Ontario) - trained death investigators 2. Medical Examiner (ME): - system in Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland

Question 45

What is different about Forensic Anthropology in Canada?

Answer 45

- the job is largely taken up by other death investigation agencies - no specific degree for Forensic Anthropology

Question 46

Who is Tracy Rogers?

Answer 46

At U of T and was the head of the Robert "Willy" Picton investigation in 2002/03

Question 47

Is Forensic Anthropology a profession in Canada?

Answer 47

No, it is a subsidiary of Forensic Biology