Bone or Stone? Human or Non-Human? - Webinar - August 30, 2023
SKU:
083023-BSHNH
$79.00
$79.00
per item
Instructor: Dr. Teresa ‘Lilly’ White
Hours: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm MDT (2-hour lecture)
Registration: Once tuition has been paid, you will receive a registration link via email.
Payment: Please ensure that the student name(s) are entered in the shopping cart. If you are employed by an agency requesting to be invoiced for tuition or if you require assistance with registration, please contact Phil Sanfilippo at [email protected] or call 800-438-7884, ext. 1025.
Hours: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm MDT (2-hour lecture)
Registration: Once tuition has been paid, you will receive a registration link via email.
Payment: Please ensure that the student name(s) are entered in the shopping cart. If you are employed by an agency requesting to be invoiced for tuition or if you require assistance with registration, please contact Phil Sanfilippo at [email protected] or call 800-438-7884, ext. 1025.
Bone or Stone? Human or Non-Human?
2 Hours
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:
Hour 1: “I found a bone. Now what?”
Why call a Forensic Anthropologist?
From death scene to the crime lab
Is suspected material bone?
How do we differentiate non-osseous material from bone?
If it is bone, is it human or non-human?
Three levels of assessment to determine human versus non-human:
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):
If skeletal remains are human, how do we decide if they are contemporary or non-contemporary?
Contemporary versus Non-contemporary Remains Continued
Primary indicators used to assess whether remains are contemporary or non-contemporary are:
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
2 Hours
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.
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.