Main description:

Recent political, religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts, as well as mass disasters, have significantly helped to bring to light the almost unknown dis- pline of forensic anthropology. This science has become particularly useful to forensic pathologists because it aids in solving various puzzles, such as id- tifying victims and documenting crimes. On topics such as mass disasters and crimes against humanity, teamwork between forensic pathologists and for- sic anthropologists has significantly increased over the few last years. This relationship has also improved the study of routine cases in local medicolegal institutes. When human remains are badly decomposed, partially skelet- ized, and/or burned, it is particularly useful for the forensic pathologist to be assisted by a forensic anthropologist. It is not a one-way situation: when the forensic anthropologist deals with skeletonized bodies that have some kind of soft tissue, the advice of a forensic pathologist would be welcome. Forensic anthropology is a subspecialty/field of physical anthropology. Most of the background on skeletal biology was gathered on the basis of sk- etal remains from past populations. Physical anthropologists then developed an indisputable "know-how"; nevertheless, one must keep in mind that looking for a missing person or checking an assumed identity is quite a different matter. Pieces of information needed by forensic anthropologists require a higher level of reliability and accuracy than those granted in a general archaeological c- text. To achieve a positive identification, findings have to match with e- dence, particularly when genetic identification is not possible.

Contents:

Part I. Two Sciences, One Objective

Introduction to Forensic Anthropology
Douglas H. Ubelaker

Introduction to Forensic Medicine and Pathology
Joao Pinheiro

Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Pathology: The State of the Art
Eugenia Cunha and Cristina Cattaneo

Part II. Aging Living Young Individuals

Biological vs Legal Age of Living Individuals
Francesco Introna and Carlo P. Campobasso

Part III. Pathophysiology of Death and Forensic Investigation: From Recovery to the Cause of Death

Decay Process of a Cadaver
Joao Pinheiro

Understanding the Circumstances of Decomposition When the Body Is Skeletonized
Henri Duday and Mark Guillon

Forensic Investigation of Corpses in Various States of Decomposition: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Joao Pinheiro and Eugenia Cunha

Identification and Differential Diagnosis of Traumatic Lesions of the Skeleton
Conrado Rodriguez-Martin

Part IV. Biological Identity

Methodology and Reliability of Sex Determination From the Skeleton
Jaroslav Bruzek and Pascal Murail

Age Assessment of Child Skeletal Remains in Forensic Contexts
Mary E. Lewis and Ambika Flavel

Determination of Adult Age at Death in the Forensic Context
Eric Baccino and Aurore Schmitt

Is It Possible to Escape Racial Typology in Forensic Identification?
John Albanese and Shelley R. Saunders

Estimation and Evidence in Forensic Anthropology: Determining Stature
Lyle W. Konigsberg, Ann H. Ross, and William L. Jungers

Pathology as a Factor of Personal Identity in Forensic Anthropology
Eugenia Cunha

Personal Identification of Cadavers and Human Remains
Cristina Cattaneo, Danilo De Angelis, Davide Porta, and Marco Grandi

Part V. Particular Contexts: Crimes Against Humanity and MassDisasters

Forensic Investigations Into the Missing: Recommendations and Operational Best Practices
Morris Tidball-Binz

Crimes Against Humanity
Dario M. Olmo

Mass Disasters
Cristina Cattaneo, Danilo De Angelis, and Marco Grandi

Index