Anthropology

Sub-specialties: General forensic anthropology, Osteology, Facial reconstruction (modelling), Facial reconstruction (computer-based)

Forensic anthropology is the identification of human remains in a medico-legal context.

Anthropologists can establish that remains are indeed human. Primarily, they retrieve information pertinent to the biological identity of a dead person, to help investigators assign a name to them. They assess the person's sex, age at death, stature and ethnicity and establish any features particular to their personal identity, including previous injury, pathology, abnormalities etc. In some cases they may be able to assist in confirming the time-death interval. Anthropologists usually work within a team including a forensic pathologist, forensic odontologist and radiographer.

All registered forensic anthropologists are competent to proffer a professional opinion on identity from skeletal remains whether they are intact, fragmented or burned. Not all however have experience in extracting this information from remains which contain flesh. For this reason there is a sub-category of osteology, which identifies the specialists who work with dry skeletal remains but not with fresh or badly decomposed remains. Those practitioners who are competent to work with both categories of remains appear in the register under the heading of general forensic anthropology.

Also registered under anthropology are specialists in facial reconstruction. These can reconstruct an approximation of the living face from a skull. This can be done by two means - either by computerised reconstruction, producing a two dimensional image or by clay modelling, which produces a three dimensional reconstruction. The register distinguishes these two different types of practitioner.


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