Many buried bodies come to light accidentally. Occasionally, information is received that a body is buried at a particular location. Excavation/Exhumation The act of placing a person or object into the ground is called Burial or interment or Inhumation. Exhumation means digging out something which has been buried, especially corpse. The word Exhumation derives from […]
Forensic Anthropology & Odontology
Decomposition Stages of Human Body
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms. It occurs systematically in all biological organisms with the cessation of normal life functions and begins immediately following death. The extent of decomposition can be used to estimate time since death. There are many factors that affect the decomposition rate, but the […]
Estimation of Age by Teeth
Deciduous or temporary dentition comprise the teeth present in an infant or toddler. These are also known as primary teeth. Deciduous teeth erupt during early postnatal life and shed after a particular time during the life. These teeth are then replaced by permanent teeth which comprise the dentition of a mature individual and do not […]
Estimation of Age by Bones
In our previous post on estimation of age by skull, we learnt about closing times of fontanels and sutures. In this post we will find out how estimation of age by bones is done. Read on. Epiphyseal fusion, ossification of bones and fusion of joints The process of bone formation has been explained previously. In […]
Estimation of Age by Skull
Forensic identification from skeletal remains incorporates various parameters that conclude to identification in terms of gender, age, stature etc. Estimating the age from bone samples recovered from crime scene is a tedious task to perform. The age of a person from his skeletal remains cannot be determined absolutely, though the forensic anthropologists can estimate with […]
Human Skeletal System: Axial Skeleton – 2
In the part 1 of Human Axial Skeleton, we covered all the bones till hyoid bone. In this post we shall proceed with the vertebral column. Vertebral column Vertebral column also known as the vertebrae or backbone houses the spinal cord. It is made up of individual units called vertebrae which are packed together with […]