Dr. David Webb DF
26
x4245
Anthropology 258: FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
Course Description: This course is
designed to teach students to recognize human skeletal remains whether they are
complete or fragmentary, to be able to identify individual skeletons with
regard to various categories (e.g., sex, stature, age), and to understand the
use of human remains in legal and archaeological contexts. Accordingly, the lectures will be
divided into three categories:
practical osteology; interpretive osteology; forensics. In general, Mondays will be devoted to
practical osteology, Wednesdays and Fridays to interpretive osteology and
forensics. Students will have
hands-on experience with human and non-human skeletal remains and will be
required to identify these remains in quizzes. Study time for quizzes will be arranged
with the instructor.
Required Text:
The Anatomy
and Biology of the Human Skeleton, D. Gentry STEELE and Claud A. BRAMBLETT, Texas A & M
University Press, College Station, TX, 1988.
OR
Introduction
to Forensic Anthropology: A Textbook, 4th ed., Steven N. BYERS, Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, New York,
2011.

Course
Outline:
I. Practical
Osteology........................................... S&B:
Parts III-XI; Byers: Chap.2; Bass*
II. Interpretive
Osteology
A. The Skeleton............................................................. S&B:
Part I; Byers: Chap.2
B. The Anatomy of Bone................................................... S&B:
Part II; Vaughan*
C. Human Identification........................................ S&B:
Parts III-XI (Applications)
1. sex...................................................................................... Byers:
Chap.8
2. age...................................................................................... Byers:
Chap.9
3. stature............................................................................... Byers:
Chap.10
4. weight................................................................................ Byers:
p.354-5
5. race..................................................................................... Byers:
Chap.7
6. genetic relationship
7. physiognomy.................................................................... Byers:
Chap.17
8. individuation............................................................... Byers:
Chap.17, 18
EXAM #2
III. Forensics
A. History................................... Byers:
Chap.1; Forbes*; Thompson*; Ubelaker*
B. Site Investigation.................................... Byers:
Chap.4; Swanson et al.*; Wolf*
C. Archaeology.............................. Kennedy*;
Goodman & Armelagos*; Grauer*;
............................................................................................................. Spindler*
D. Evidence and the Law.............................................................................. Chap.19
E. Circumstances of Death............. Byers:
Chaps.5, 11-15; Morse et al.*; Maples*
F. Case Studies..................................... Caldwell*;
Webster et al.*;Snow & Luke*
G. Occupational Information................................... Podolefsky
& Brown, Chap.8*
*
Indicates readings from books available in the university library.
Course Requirements: There will be
three exams; two in-class preliminary exams and the final exam. Each exam will constitute one-fourth of
the total grade. The first exam
will occur around the fifth week, during the section on Human Identification
(Part II. C.). The second exam will occur after the section on Interpretive
Osteology (Part II). The final exam
will be cumulative but will very heavily stress the last third of the course
(Part III). In addition, the
combined scores of all the bone quizzes will constitute one-fourth of the total
grade. Bone quizzes are never
"curved." The last bone
quiz will be taken by groups of students working on half of a skeleton. This quiz will be worth twice the
average value of the other quizzes.
Bibliography: The following
books available in Rohrbach Library, on the shelves or on reserve, may be
useful:
Bass,
W. M., Human Osteology: A
Laboratory and Field Manual of the Human Skeleton, Archaeology Society,
Columbia, MO, 1971.
Boddington,
A., A.N. Garland, and R.C. Janaway, Death, decay, and reconstruction :
approaches to archaeology and forensic science, Manchester University
Press, Wolfeboro, NH, 1987. GN69.8
.D43 1987
Byers,
Steven N., Introduction to Forensic Anthropology: A Textbook, 2nd ed.,
Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, New York, 2005.
Caldwell,
Peggy C., "New Questions (And Some Answers) on the Facial Reproduction
Techniques, in Kathleen J. Reichs, ed., Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human
Remains, Charles Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1986.
Downer,
G.C., Dental Morphology: An
illustrated guide, John Wright & Sons, Bristol, 1975.
Eckert,
William G., ed., Introduction to forensic sciences, 2nd ed., CRC Press,
Boca Raton, Fla., 1997. HV8073 .I57
1997
Evans,
Colin, The casebook of forensic detection : how science solved 100 of the
world's most baffling crimes, Wiley, New York, 1996. RA1053 .E93 1996
Forbes,
Thomas Rogers, Surgeons at the Bailey:
English Forensic Medicine to 1878, Yale University Press, New Haven,
CT, 1985.
Gee,
D. J. and J.K. Mason, The courts and the doctor, Oxford University
Press, New York, 1990. KD7523 .G44
1990
Glob,
P.V., The Bog People: Iron-age
man preserved, translated by Rupert Bruce-Mitford, Cornell University
Press, Ithaca, NY, 1969.
Goodman,
Alan H. and George J. Armelagos, "Disease and Death at Dr. Dickson's
Mounds, pp.91-95, in Podolefsky and Brown, eds., Applying Anthropology,
Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA, 1989.
Haglund,
William D. and Marcella H. Sorg, eds., Forensic taphonomy : the postmortem
fate of human remains, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1997. RA1063.47 .F67 1997
Hillson,
Simon, Mammal Bones and Teeth, Institute of Archaeology, London,
1992. QE 881 H55
Houts,
Marshall, Where death delights : the story of Dr. Milton Helpern and
forensic medicine, Coward-McCann, New York, 1967. 614.1092 H369h
Iscan,
Mehmet Yasar and Richard P. Helmer, eds., Forensic analysis of the skull :
craniofacial analysis, reconstruction, and identification, Wiley-Liss, New
York, N.Y., c1993.
Jane
E. Buikstra, editor, A Life in Science:
Papers in honor of J. Lawrence Angel, Center for American Archeology,
Scientific Papers 6, 1990.
Kathleen
J. Reichs, editor, Forensic Osteology:
Advances in the identification of human remains, Charles C. Thomas,
Springfield, IL, 1986.
Kennedy,
Kenneth A. R., "When Bones Tell Tales," pp.85-90, in Podolefsky and Brown,
eds., Applying Anthropology, Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA,
1989.
Krogman,
Wilton Marion and Mehmet Yasar Isçan, The Human Skeleton in Forensic
Medicine, 2nd ed., Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1986.
Loth, Susan R. and Maciej Henneberg, "Mandibular Ramus
Flexure: A New Morphologic
Indicator of Sexual Dimorphism in the Human Skeleton," American Journal
of Physical Anthropology, Vol.99, pp.455-72, 1996.
Maples,
William R., "Trauma Analysis by the Forensic Anthropologist," in
Kathleen J. Reichs, ed., Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human
Remains, Charles Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1986.
Massie,
Robert K., The Romanovs : the final chapter, Random House, New York,
1995. RUSSIAN CULTURE CENTER DK258
.M33 1995
Morse,
Dan, Jack Duncan and James Stoutamire, eds., Handbook of Forensic
Archaeology and Anthropology, Florida State University Foundation
Tallahassee, FL, 1983.
Noguchi,
Thomas T. with Joseph DiMona, Coroner, Simon and Schuster, New York,
1983. RA1025.N63 A33 1983
Pickering,
Robert B. and David C. Bachman, The use of forensic anthropology, CRC
Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1997.
RA1063.4 .P52
Podolefsky,
Aaron and Peter J. Brown, eds., Applying Anthropology: An Introductory Reader, Mayfield
Publishing, Mountain View, CA, 1989.
Rathbun,
Ted A. and Jane E. Buikstra, editors, Human Identification: Case studies in forensic anthropology,
Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1984.
Schwartz,
Jeffrey H., Skeleton keys : an introduction to human skeletal morphology,
development, and analysis, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995. QM101 .S38 1995
Searfoss,
Glenn, Skulls and Bones: a guide to the skeletal structures and behavior of
North American mammals, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 1995. QL715 .S43 1995
Smith,
Kenneth G. V., A manual of forensic entomology, Cornell University
Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 1986.
RA1063.45 .S47 1986
Snow,
Clyde and James L. Luke, "The Olkahoma City Child Disappearances: Forensic Anthropology in the
Identification of Skeletal Remains," pp.57-63, in Podolefsky and Brown,
eds., Applying Anthropology, Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA,
1989.
Spencer,
Frank, edited, A History of American Physical Anthropology: 1930-1980, Academic Press, New York,
1982.
Steele,
D. Gentry and Claud A. Bramblett, The Anatomy and Biology of the Human
Skeleton, Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX, 1988.
Steinbock,
R. Ted, Paleopathological Diagnosis and Interpretation: Bone disease in ancient human
populations, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1976.
Stimson,
Paul G., Curtis A. Mert, editors, Forensic Dentistry, CRC Press, Boca
Raton, Florida, 1997. RA1062 .F67
1997
Swanson,
Charles R., Neil C. Chamelin and Leonard Territo, Criminal Investigation,
4th edition, Random House, New York, 1988.
Thompson,
D. D., "Forensic Anthropology," in Frank Spencer, ed., A History
of American Physical Anthropology, 1930-1980, Academic Press, New York,
1982.
Ubelaker,
Douglas H., "J. Lawrence Angel and the Development of Forensic
Anthropology in the United States," in Jane E. Buikstra, ed., A Life in
Science: Papers in Honor of J.
Lawrence Angel, Center For American Archeology, 1990.
Ubelaker,
Douglas H., Reconstruction of demographic profiles from ossuary skeletal
samples; a case study from the Tidewater Potomac, Smithsonian Institution
Press; Washington, 1974. QUARTO
573.609701 Ub3r
Vaughan,
Janet M., The Physiology of Bone, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1970.
Webster,
William P. W. Kent Murray, William Brinkhous and Page Hudson,
"Identification of Human Remains using Photographic Reconstruction,"
in Kathleen J. Reichs, ed., Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human
Remains, Charles Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1986.
Wolf,
David J., "Forensic Anthropology Scene Investigations," in Kathleen J.
Reichs, ed., Forensic Osteology:
Advances in the Identification of Human Remains, Charles Thomas,
Springfield, IL, 1986.