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Measuring dimensional and morphological heat alterations of dismemberment-related toolmarks with an optical roughness metre

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Abstract

This experimental study provides a further understanding of the post-burning nature of sharp force trauma. The main objective is to analyse the distortion that fire may inflict on the length, width, roughness, and floor shape morphology of toolmarks induced by four different implements. To this end, four fresh juvenile pig long bones were cut with a bread knife, a serrated knife, a butcher machete, and a saw. A total of 120 toolmarks were induced and the bone samples were thus burnt in a chamber furnace. The lesions were analysed with a 3D optical surface roughness metre before and after the burning process. Afterwards, descriptive statistics and correlation tests (Student’s t-test and analysis of variance) were performed. The results show that fire exposure can distort the signatures of sharp force trauma, but they remain recognisable and identifiable. The length decreased in size and the roughness increased in a consistent manner. The width did not vary for the saw, serrated knife, or machete toolmarks, while the bread knife lesions slightly shrunk. The floor shape morphology varied after burning, and this change became more noticeable for the three knives. It was also observed that the metrics of the serrated knife and machete cut marks showed no significant variations. Our results demonstrate that there is a variation in the toolmark characteristics after burning. This distortion is dependent on multiple factors that influence their dimensional and morphological changes, and the preservation of class features is directly reliant upon the weapon employed, the trauma caused, and the burning process conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This experiment is adhered to the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology guidance on Ethics and Practice. We would like to express our gratitude to the members of Petrophysics Laboratory at Geosciences Institute (CSIC, UCM) for the technical assistance provided during the use of the optical roughness metre and the electric furnace. We kindly thank Iván Serrano Muñoz for his help and patience during the burning process. Lastly, we thank Daniel García Rubio for his assistance in designing the tables and figures and for providing the samples.

Funding

This experiment was funded by the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology research grant (2020–2021).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Medicina Legal, Psiquiatría y Patología, Laboratorio de Antropología Y Odontología Forense, Madrid, Spain

    Pilar Mata-Tutor, Catherine Villoria-Rojas & María Benito-Sánchez

  2. Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, UK

    Nicholas Márquez-Grant

  3. Instituto de Geociencias-IGEO (CSIC, UCM), Madrid, Spain

    Mónica Alvarez de Buergo Ballester & Natalia Pérez-Ema

Authors
  1. Pilar Mata-Tutor
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  2. Catherine Villoria-Rojas
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  3. Nicholas Márquez-Grant
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  4. Mónica Alvarez de Buergo Ballester
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  5. Natalia Pérez-Ema
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  6. María Benito-Sánchez
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Contributions

Pilar Mata Tutor: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, software, formal analysis and interpretation, visualisation, writing—original draft, writing—editing, funding acquisition; Catherine Villoria Rojas: methodology, software, formal analysis and interpretation, visualisation; Nicholas Marquéz-Grant: supervision, writing—editing; Mónica Álvarez del Buergo Ballester: software, resources; Natalia Pérez Ema: software, resources; María Benito Sánchez: supervision, writing—editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pilar Mata-Tutor.

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This is not applicable as this experiment adhered to the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology guidance on Ethics and Practice.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Highlights

• Fire exposure can distort the signatures of sharp force trauma.

• Toolmark’s length decreased in size and roughness increased in a consistent manner.

• Serrated knife and machete cut marks metrics showed no significant variations.

• Roughness metre is a valid non-destructive device that may complement the toolmark analysis.

Supplementary Information

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Mata-Tutor, P., Villoria-Rojas, C., Márquez-Grant, N. et al. Measuring dimensional and morphological heat alterations of dismemberment-related toolmarks with an optical roughness metre. Int J Legal Med 136, 343–356 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02627-7

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