Anthropology, Forensic

As an area of applied physical anthropology, forensic anthropology has come into its own in the last twenty years. It focuses on the human skeleton and is indispensable to the investigation of a death when there are only bone fragments and trace materials available as evidence to help answer those questions that surround a person's death.

Training in physical anthropology and historic archaeology prepares the forensic anthropologist for the detailed examination of bone material and a crime area, respectively. Ongoing advances in science and technology have greatly improved site investigation in terms of both evidence analysis and scene interpretation. Forensic anthropologists work closely with individuals in law enforcement and medical science, and especially with specialists in ballistics, explosives, pathology, serology, and toxicology.

The forensic anthropologist focuses on those human skeletal traits that vary from individual to individual and from population to population, for example, skull features, dental characteristics, and subcranial bone sizes and shapes. A specialist in osteology, the forensic anthropologist brings extensive investigative experience and an expertise in analyzing the human skeleton that are often lacking in the medical and legal professions.