When remains are skeletonised, burned or fragmentary, a forensic anthropologist steps in. From bone alone they can reconstruct a surprising amount about a person's identity and fate — a starting point that guides the whole investigation.
First questions
The analysis usually begins with the basics:
- Is it bone, and is it human?
- How many individuals are represented?
- How old are the remains, roughly, and how long since death?
Building a biological profile
From the skeleton, the anthropologist estimates a biological profile:
- Sex — chiefly from the pelvis and skull.
- Age at death — from bone growth and fusion of the growth plates in the young, and from degenerative changes in adults; teeth are especially useful in children.
- Stature — estimated from the length of the long bones.
- Ancestry — from skeletal features, used cautiously.
This profile narrows the pool of possible identities and supports comparison with missing-persons records.
Trauma and the story of death
Bones also record injury. The anthropologist distinguishes trauma that occurred around the time of death from older, healed injuries and from damage that happened after death, and can recognise the signatures of sharp force, blunt force and gunshot. Read together with the scene and, where possible, DNA and dental records, this helps establish who the person was and what happened to them — often when no other evidence remains.