​Instructor: 
Dr. Teresa 'Lilly' White
Course length:  2 hours

Bone or Stone? Human or Non-Human?

Attendees of this 2-hour webinar should gain an understanding of what to do if they encounter possible human bones, at a scene.

Distinguishing human from non-human bone is a difficult task. Whenever possible, that task should be left up to a forensic anthropologist who is professionally trained in human osteology, which is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification, and the resistance and hardness of bones. With that said, it is also important for crime scene investigators and other forensic specialists to be able to recognize and differentiate human bone from non-human bone on a scene, to save time, money, and resources. For example, according to Forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Bill Bass (1995), 25-30% of all bone cases submitted for forensic identification and analysis are non-human. Those resources could have been used for other purposes.
 
Topics include:

  • Is suspected material bone?
  • If it is bone, is it human or non-human?
  • How do we differentiate human from faunal bones?
  • If it is human, how do we decide if it is contemporary or non-contemporary?
  • Forensic Taphonomy

This course is appropriate for all crime scene and law enforcement personnel and is considered at a basic level. Please see our IAI Certifications page for more information.
Dr. Teresa 'Lilly' White
Teresa ‘Lilly’ White, PhD, is a native Montanan.  She received her BSLS in 2005 from MSU-B, her BA in Forensic Anthropology in 2011, her MA in Forensic Anthropology in 2013, and her PhD in Anthropology in 2019, from the University of Montana.

Lilly and her husband, Stocky (also a PhD in Anthropology), are the owners of Bone & Stone Anthrosciences, L.L.C., where they provide Anthropological & Archaeological Consulting Services and Educational Workshops to Federal, State, County, Tribal, and City Law Enforcement Personnel, Coroners/Death Investigators, Chaplains, Public Safety Officers, Forensic Practitioners, Physicians and Nurses, Mental Health Practitioners, Funeral Personnel, International Emergency Services companies, and others.

She  teaches courses on: cultural and forensic anthropology, osteology, death investigations, death notification studies including compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, human decomposition and entomology, thermal and explosives trauma on bodies, bone pathology and taphonomy, forensic recovery of scattered human remains, clandestine grave discovery and excavation, cold case investigations, end-of-life issues, grief facilitation, differentiating perimortem gunshot  trauma from blunt force, after a car fire,  autoerotic asphyxia (AeA), equivocal deaths, bloodstain pattern analysis, social determinants of health for sexual abuse victims, dark tourism, and other fascinating topics.

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