Forensically Significant Skeletal Anatomy

Abstract

Forensically significant cases are those in which remains are recovered that have come from humans who died violently or unexpectedly, or for which the cause of death or manner of death is potentially a legal or otherwise significant issue (this may exclude very old or prehistoric remains). This text discusses the subset of forensically significant remains that are partially or completely decomposed, fragmented, or unidentified. This chapter is not meant to reiterate what other experts have described. Rather, we present the authors’ philosophy regarding the evaluation of cases in which the lower extremities, or parts thereof, represent the majority of the forensically significant and useful remains recovered. Results expected from the analysis of such remains form a biological profile that is potentially capable of providing positive identification (which is discussed further in later chapters) leading to and perhaps facilitating the determination of the cause and manner of death, a task that usually requires the integration of data from multiple sources and which is outside the scope of this book.