Contributions of Ellis R. Kerley to forensic anthropology.

Ellis R. Kerley (1924 to 1998) represents an important figure in the history of American forensic anthropology. In research, he is best known for pioneering the microscopic approach to the estimation of age at death from human bone. A university professor for 22 years. Kerley also served as Scientific Director of the Army identification laboratory in Hawaii and worked on many forensic cases. He was a leader in the formation of the Physical Anthropology section of the AAFS and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and held many offices within the AAFS, including President from 1990 to 1991.     

Becoming respectable: T. Dale Stewart and the acceptance of forensic anthropology in the academic community

Before World War II, forensic anthropology was of peripheral interest to a few anthropologists willing to assist in investigations by law enforcement agencies. A strong bias that "police work" was unbecoming to the scholarly pursuits of academics persisted into the post-war years. Changes took place as a consequence of T. Dale Stewart's case work in the identification of human remains with the FBI from 1943 to 1969, his directorship of the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) beginning in 1962, and his work with the Armed Forces after 1948. This paper discusses the historic period of transition of attitudes and practices in the contexts of Stewart's contributions and the cases and teaching programs of one of his contemporaries. Theodore D. McCown at the University of California at Berkeley, during the period of 1939 to 1969. The establishment of the Physical Anthropology Section within the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 1972 and the creation of the T. Dale Stewart award for distinguished service in forensic anthropology advanced those laboratory research programs and medical-legal investigations conducted by present-day forensic anthropologists.     

Archaeology, science and forensic anthropology: a tribute to Dr T. Dale Stewart

The name, T. Dale Stewart is synonymous with physical anthropology. To many members of the physical anthropology section, particularly those born in the latter half of this century, he is perhaps best known for his 1979 Essentials of Forensic Anthropology. Without a doubt, much of the foundation of this discipline rests upon his teachings and influence. Few knew him in the capacity that William M. Bass did, as T. Dale Stewart was a member of Bass doctoral committee. Bass was greatly influenced during the time he spent working with Dr. Stewart in the 1950's and the instruction and guidance Stewart instilled in Bass has and will continue to be passed on to subsequent generations. Research was Dale Stewart's main emphasis and he succeeded in demonstrating the value of investigation and how results were crucial in explaining many of the processes manifest on skeletal material. Clearly his hypothesis-based approach became essential to skeletal biology and numerous procedures and methods employed in the field are synonymous with the teachings of Dr. T. Dale Stewart. By reflecting on several recently completed interdisciplinary research projects, the far-reaching impact of his knowledge and instruction can be demonstrated.     

A Longitudinal Study on Human Outdoor Decomposition in Central Texas

The development of a methodology that estimates the postmortem interval (PMI) from stages of decomposition is a goal for which forensic practitioners strive. A proposed equation (Megyesi et al. 2005) that utilizes total body score (TBS) and accumulated degree days (ADD) was tested using longitudinal data collected from human remains donated to the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF) at Texas State University‐San Marcos. Exact binomial tests examined the rate of the equation to successfully predict ADD. Statistically significant differences were found between ADD estimated by the equation and the observed value for decomposition stage. Differences remained significant after carnivore scavenged donations were removed from analysis. Low success rates for the equation to predict ADD from TBS and the wide standard errors demonstrate the need to re‐evaluate the use of this equation and methodology for PMI estimation in different environments; rather, multivariate methods and equations should be derived that are environmentally specific.     

Forensic anthropology in the 1990s.

Forensic anthropology has undergone considerable change over the past 10 years. Today it is utilized by most law enforcement, coroner, and medical examiner systems. The techniques for determination of age at death, sex, race, and stature from skeletal remains have been modified and greatly expanded. The role of the forensic anthropologist within a medicolegal context is much broader than in previous years. In addition to establishing individual identity, forensic anthropologists are now consulted for trauma analysis, facial reconstruction, photographic superimposition, determination of time interval since death, and crime-scene recovery. Not all physical anthropologists are forensic anthropologists. Qualified individuals are certified, through rigorous examination, by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. A list of board-certified forensic anthropologists may be obtained through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.     

The man in the scarlet cloak. The mysterious death of Peter Anthony Motteux.

Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), a Huguenot refugee in London, established a literary reputation by completing Sir Thomas Urquhart's translation of Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, then Cervantes' Don Quixote. He later became an import-export merchant. On his 55th birthday he donned his scarlet cloak and went out on the town. He picked up a prostitute and after some dalliance returned to her bordello. Shortly thereafter he was found dead, although the evidence is that he was in good health when he arrived. Literary evidence is that he died from assisted erotic asphyxia, a variant of autoerotic asphyxia, cf. the case of Frantisek Koczwara (Am J Forensic Med Pathol 5:145-149, 1984.)     

The Ripper Project. Modern science solving mysteries of history

Modern scientific techniques may be applied to solve historical--even ancient--mysteries. Many such mysteries have been studied by forensic scientists, including anthropologists. One example is the recent examination of the artifacts and grave sites at the Little Bighorn in Montana, the scene of the battle between General George A. Custer's troops and the Northern Plains Indian tribes. Similarly, skeleton remains of the Indian tribes of the Pre-Columbian and Columbian periods have been studied to answer many questions regarding life and death in those early civilizations. The Ripper Project began as a research activity of the Milton Helpern International Center for the Forensic Sciences at Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas, in 1981, after the concept had been discussed in a night session during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Los Angeles. These century-old serial murders of five prostitutes--The Whitechapel Murders--in London in 1888 were discussed in great detail from the standpoints of the forensic pathologist, the forensic psychiatrist, the criminalist, the forensic historian, and the forensic dentist. The information gained during this phase of the project plus the advances made possible by the development of criminal personality profiling by the FBI led to the present status of this project, which was recently discussed in a live telecast, and which is the subject of this article.     

Sidney Kaye, Ph.D. Internationally renowned forensic toxicologist

The importance of Dr. Sidney Kaye's contributions in the field of forensic science cannot be over-emphasized. He can be called a pioneer in the field of forensic science and forensic toxicology because of the many contributions he has made to analysis, the literature and poison control, as well as activities in alcohol and drug analysis. He has been fortunate in being a part of history through his relationship, as a student, to Dr. Alexander Gettler, the founder of modern-day forensic toxicology, and by working with Dr. Gradwohl in Saint Louis, Missouri in the 1950s, when the American forensic sciences were being organized. Dr. Kaye is one of the founders of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the foremost and largest forensic science organization in the World. It is for these reasons that he received the Alexander O. Gettler Award by the Toxicology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, for outstanding analytical achievements in forensic toxicology, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 14, 1985.     

Skull-photo superimposition and border deaths: identification through exclusion and the failure to exclude

We report on the application of video skull-photo superimposition as an identification method in a case from Ajo, Arizona in which five individuals died after crossing into southern Arizona from Mexico. Initial analyses at the Pima County Forensic Science Center in Tucson, Arizona determined that the disarticulated skeletal remains represented two adult Hispanic males and three adult Hispanic females. Based on biological profiles, both the males and one of the females were tentatively identified and assigned names. The other two females were too similar in age and height, making skeletal separation and identification difficult. As a result, the Michigan State University Forensic Anthropology Laboratory assisted in the identification efforts by performing video skull-photo superimposition on the two unknown females. The skulls were compared to a photograph reported to be one of the missing females. By evaluating facial proportionality and by comparing a number of morphological features of the face and skulls, one skull was excluded as a possible match and one skull was not excluded as a match to the antemortem photo. Because this case was presumed to be a closed disaster, the exclusion of one skull and the failure to exclude the other represented circumstantial identifications.     

父親的正義感，照我一生

中國政法大學潘漢典教授是《元照英美法詞典》的總審訂人，也是《君主論》、《比較法總論》等多部名著的漢鋒者.通擅英、法、日、德、俄等多種語言。潘先生今已89歲高齡，他早年從東吴大學法學院獲得碩士學位，先後在北京大學、中國社會科學院法學研究所、中國政法大學問學論道，終身與法結绎. 本刊約請潘先生憶往，温故知新。法學舊事，亦豐厚，亦温文。     

The Effect of Body Mass on Outdoor Adult Human Decomposition

Forensic taphonomy explores factors impacting human decomposition. This study investigated the effect of body mass on the rate and pattern of adult human decomposition. Nine males and three females aged 49–95 years ranging in mass from 73 to 159 kg who were donated to the Complex for Forensic Anthropology Research between December 2012 and September 2015 were included in this study. Kelvin accumulated degree days (KADD) were used to assess the thermal energy required for subjects to reach several total body score (TBS) thresholds: early decomposition (TBS ≥6.0), TBS ≥12.5, advanced decomposition (TBS ≥19.0), TBS ≥23.0, and skeletonization (TBS ≥27.0). Results indicate no significant correlation between body mass and KADD at any TBS threshold. Body mass accounted for up to 24.0% of variation in decomposition rate depending on stage, and minor differences in decomposition pattern were observed. Body mass likely has a minimal impact on postmortem interval estimation.     

Murders for profit. The case of John Donald Merrett

Forensic cases may be of historical interest because of their rarity, unique characteristics and conclusions, and potential for educating forensic scientists. The case of John Donald Merrett, who committed multiple murders for profit in Great Britain in 1926 and in 1954, is a notable example of a case in which both police and forensic scientists made serious errors, these errors leading to Merrett's acquittal when he was tried in 1927 for the shooting death of his mother. Imprisoned for forgery, Merrett was released only to resume a life of crime culminating in 1954 in the brutal murders of his wife and mother-in-law. Pursued by the police, he committed suicide. The Merrett case was of great benefit to forensic medicine in emphasizing the necessity for close teamwork among police and forensic scientists and in furthering the development of forensic ballistics.     

The scope of anthropological contributions to human rights investigations

This paper examines the participation of anthropologists in international human rights investigations between 1990 and 1999 by surveying four of the most active organizations, including the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, Physicians for Human Rights and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The education level, sex, nationality and primary role of the anthropological members of each team are quantified, as are the types of projects in which they contributed. The results show that 134 anthropologists from 22 nations investigated nearly 1300 sites in 33 countries during the study period. While involvement is not limited to those with advanced degrees and few obstacles are placed before anthropologists who wish to participate, full-time service within these organizations is rare and those interested in a career in forensic anthropology and human rights should understand the employment limitations.     

Teaching Forensic Entomology,Forensic Anthropology,and Haematology & Serology during the COVID-19 pandemic: Practical activities for distance learning

As the COVID-19 pandemic upended college and university instruction throughout the world, instructors were hard-pressed to find suitable alternatives for practical activities typically carried out outside of classrooms—in laboratories, workshops, clinics, and in the field. In response to this unanticipated challenge, they relied on their ingenuity to achieve pre-pandemic goals under pandemic conditions that necessitated the shift to online teaching. The Forensic Science Undergraduate Program housed in the School of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico was not exempt from this educational upheaval but, due to its interdisciplinary nature, required creating and/or adopting a wide range of activities capable of training students to perform practical tasks associated with subject areas that span the natural and social sciences, the humanities, and the law. This report aims to describe the approaches undertaken in three subjects (Forensic Entomology, Forensic Anthropology, and Hematology & Serology) by interviewing instructors and examining their teaching materials. Also, through online surveys, students’ reactions to these approaches were elicited to learn about their suitability and teaching potential. Instructor’s experiences during the pandemic have proven to be a rich source of ingenious solutions, with implications well-beyond the current crisis, such as creating blended or fully online courses aimed at larger numbers of students, forensic and legal professionals, and even other instructors. The wide variety of forensic sciences offers the opportunity to innovate and improve the teaching and learning of science, particularly to the benefit of students that must combine their school tasks with professional and/or family duties.     

Historical Trends in Graduate Research and Training of Diplomates of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology

The history of forensic anthropology has been documented by numerous scholars. These contributions have described the work of early pioneers in the field and have described important milestones, such as the founding of the Physical Anthropology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) in 1972 and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA) in 1977. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the history of forensic anthropology by documenting the academic training of all individuals who have been granted diplomate status by the ABFA (n = 115). Doctoral dissertation titles were queried to discern broad patterns of research foci. A total of 39 doctoral granting institutions have trained diplomates and 77.3% of board‐certified forensic anthropologists wrote dissertations involving skeletal biology, bioarchaeology, or forensic anthropology. Board‐certified forensic anthropologists are a broadly trained group of professionals with far‐reaching anthropological interests and expertise.     

Evaluation of Stature Estimation from the Database for Forensic Anthropology*†

Abstract: Trotter and Gleser’s ( 1 - 3 ) stature equations, conventionally used to estimate stature, are not appropriate to use in the modern forensic context. In this study, stature is assessed with a modern (birth years after 1944) American sample (N = 242) derived from the National Institute of Justice Database for Forensic Anthropology in the United States and the Forensic Anthropology Databank. New stature formulae have been calculated using forensic stature (FSTAT) and a combined dataset of forensic, cadaver, and measured statures referred to as Any Stature (ASTAT). The new FSTAT‐based equations had an improved accuracy in Blacks with little improvement over Ousley’s ( 4 ) equations for Whites. ASTAT‐based equations performed equal to those of FSTAT equations and may be more appropriate, because they reflect both the variation in reported statures and in cadaver statures. It is essential to use not only equations based on forensic statures, but also equations based on modern samples.     

Wilton Marion Krogman, Ph.D. (1903-1987): the end of an era

Dr. Wilton Marion Krogman was one of the major founders of physical and forensic anthropology in the United States. His extraordinary career spanned nearly six decades, and he was universally admired and respected for his scholarship, teaching, research, wit, and humanity. While studies based on human skeletal remains have long been used to assist the medicolegal system, the late Dr. Krogman can be credited with uniting these areas into the discipline of forensic anthropology. His "Guide to the Identification of Human Skeletal Material" (1939) in the F.B.I. Law Enforcement Bulletin became the foundation of this discipline; his monumental book The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine (updated with the author in 1986) solidified its establishment. The purpose of this paper is to pay tribute to this great man and outline his influence on the development and advancement of forensic anthropology.     

William R. Maples, forensic historian: four men, four centuries, four countries.

Prior to 1984, William R. Maples, Ph.D. worked primarily with Medical Examiners in the State of Florida in investigation of and testimony in criminal cases. In 1984 the Republic of Peru requested him to identify skeletal remains thought to be those of Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru and the Incas in the early 16th Century. Dr. Maples made a positive identification of those remains as Pizarro, resulting in their substitution in a glass-sided coffin in the Cathedral of Lima, where other remains had been displayed as those of Pizarro for a hundred years. In addition, it was proved that the remains removed could not have been those of Pizarro. In 1988, Dr. Maples examined the skeletal remains of Joseph Merrick ("The Elephant Man") at Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, and made photographic studies of them for comparison with death casts of limbs and skull to ascertain depth of tissue by video-superimposition. In 1991, Dr. Maples, headed a team which removed President Zachary Taylor (1779-1842) from his tomb in Louisville, Kentucky. The purpose was to determine if he had been poisoned, as had been proposed by some at the time. Test results showed that he had not been. In 1992, Dr. Maples and a team of forensic specialists went by invitation to Ekaterinburg, Russia to study skeletal remains which the Russians had tentatively identified as the Russian Royal Family, and entourage, murdered in 1918. The American team identified them as Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, three of his children, his physician, and three of his servants. William Ross Maples died in Gainesville, Florida, 27 February 1997.     

Signs of death as considered by Dr. B.M. Vance in a lecture fifty years ago

This work is based on the lecture given by Dr. Bernard M. Vance, then Assistant Chief Medical Examiner of New York, to the Homicide Squad Detectives of New York City on November 2, 1933, at the New York Police Academy. He entitled his presentation "Death, simulation of death and suspicion of death." Dr. Vance was an outstanding member of the New York Office's Forensic Pathology Group and was known for his colorful renditions of the scene and autopsy findings in medicolegal cases.