TRITECH FORENSICS TRAINING
  • Home
  • Hosting
    • Becoming A Host Agency
    • Hosting Responsibilities
    • Hosting FAQs
  • Courses
    • Webinars
    • Upcoming Courses
    • Course Catalog
    • Custom Designed Courses
  • INSTRUCTORS
  • Students
    • Information for Students
    • Student Registration
    • Forensic Training Policies
    • Student Testimonials
  • IAI
    • IAI Partnership
    • IAI Certifications
  • News & Info
    • What's New?
    • Online Articles
    • About Tri-Tech Training
    • About Tri-Tech Forensics
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Info

BONE OR STONE? HUMAN OR NON-HUMAN?

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


Bone or Stone? Human or Non-Human?

​
Webinar Objectives

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

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
 
Hour 1: “I found a bone. Now what?”

Why call a Forensic Anthropologist?

  • Forensic Anthropology is an applied subfield of physical anthropology. It is defined as the application of anthropological method and theory to matters of legal concern, particularly those relating to the recovery and analysis of the human skeleton.
  • Forensic Anthropologists can be useful to medicolegal investigators because they are also Osteologists.
  • Osteology is the study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, function, disease, pathology, bone trauma, the process of ossification, and the resistance and hardness of bones.

From death scene to the crime lab

Is suspected material bone?

How do we differentiate non-osseous material from bone?

  • How about using an alternative light source (ALS)?
  • Reprinted from B. K. Alsberg, and J. Rosvold, Rapid localization of bone fragments on surfaces using back-projection and hyperspectral imaging. J. Forensic Sci. 2014, 59, 474 with permission from John Wiley and Sons. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

If it is bone, is it human or non-human?

Three levels of assessment to determine human versus non-human:
  •                 Macroscopic (visual or radiographic)
  •                 Microscopic
  •                 Biochemical/elemental

How do we differentiate human from faunal (animal) bones?

According to Forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Bill Bass (1995), 25-30% of all cases submitted to Forensic Anthropologists for identification and analysis are non-human.
A basic knowledge of human osteology is needed to save both time and resources.
What animals are in your geographic region?

Hour 2: Let us take a stab at it: (Human/Non-Human Quiz):

  • Human/Non-human?
  • Human/Non-human?
  • Human/Non-Human?
  • Human/Non-human?
  • Human/Non-human?
  • Human/non-human?
  • Human/Non-human
  • Human/Non-human?
  • Human/Non-human?
  • Last one…

If skeletal remains are human, how do we decide if they are contemporary or non-contemporary?

  • Contemporary (modern) = Less than 50 years
  • Non-contemporary:
    • Historic = ~100-500 years
    • Ancient/Prehistoric = Greater than 500 years

Contemporary versus Non-contemporary Remains Continued

Primary indicators used to assess whether remains are contemporary or non-contemporary are:
  • Taphonomic
  • Contextual
  • Biocultural

Forensic Taphonomy

“The study of the postmortem changes to human remains, focusing largely on environmental effects—including decomposition in soil and water and interaction with plants, insects, and other animals.”
-James Pokines, Steven A. Symes
Taphonomic and Contextual Indicators
Understanding Context
What kind of contextual evidence is present and what does it tell you about the scene?
Dr. Bill Bass and the case of Colonel William Shy.
Biocultural Indicators
Biocultural Indicators
 
References

http://courses.washington.edu/chordate/453photos/skeleton_photos/amniote_skeleton_photos.htm
Baker, J.B., T.L. Dupras, and M.W. Tocheri. 2005. The Osteology of Infants and Children. College Station. Texas A&M University Press.
Byers, Steven N. 2008. Introduction to Forensic Anthropology Third Addition. University of New Mexico-Valencia. Pearson.
Christensen, A.M., N.V. Passalacqua, and E.J. Bartelink. 2014. Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice. Boston: Elsevier.
Dupras, T.L., J.J. Schultz, S.M. Wheeler, and L.J. Williams. 2006. Forensic Recovery of Human Remains: Archaeological Approaches. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
https://www.ingridscience.ca/node/36
https://boneclones.com/images/sc-137-d-lg.jpg
https://www.olympus-ims.com/en/xrf-xrd/delta-handheld/delta-r-and-d/
https://jenjdanna.com/blog/2012/4/10/forensic-case-files-the-strange-case-of-colonel-william-shy.html
www.bonezones.com
 

Certification
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.
Picture
Dr. Teresa "Lily" 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.
read more

ATTEND

Interested in attending one of these courses?  Check out our Upcoming Courses page for information on all scheduled courses.
UPCOMING COURSES

HOST

You can bring this course to your location!  For more no-obligation information or to complete a hosting application, click below.
HOSTING INFORMATION
QUICK LINKS
HOSTING
Becoming a Host Agency
Hosting Responsibilities
Hosting FAQs
COURSES
Upcoming Courses
Webinars
Course Catalog
Custom Courses
STUDENTS/INSTRUCTORS
Student Information
Student Registration
Training Policies
Student Testimonials
Instructors
NEWS & INFO
What's New?
Online Articles
About Tri-Tech Training
About Tri-Tech Forensics
IAI Partnership
CONTACT
Contact Information
Newsletter Sign-Up


© COPYRIGHT 2022      TRI-TECH  FORENSICS TRAINING.      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Hosting
    • Becoming A Host Agency
    • Hosting Responsibilities
    • Hosting FAQs
  • Courses
    • Webinars
    • Upcoming Courses
    • Course Catalog
    • Custom Designed Courses
  • INSTRUCTORS
  • Students
    • Information for Students
    • Student Registration
    • Forensic Training Policies
    • Student Testimonials
  • IAI
    • IAI Partnership
    • IAI Certifications
  • News & Info
    • What's New?
    • Online Articles
    • About Tri-Tech Training
    • About Tri-Tech Forensics
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Info