Due to the increasing number of Southwest Hispanics in the United States, as well as the overwhelming number of foreign nationals that die every year trying to enter the United States along the southern United States border with Mexico, new methods for classifying individuals have been established at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Arizona (PCOME). For each of the past 5 years, the PCOME has investigated a record number of deaths associated with these border crossings. The overwhelming majority of the identified decedents are Mexican Nationals. However, approximately 25% of these undocumented border crossers have yet to be identified, making it clear that improved methods for human identification are greatly needed. The first goal of this paper is to delineate the suite of skeletal nonmetric traits utilized in assessing Southwest Hispanic ancestry at the PCOME. This suite of nonmetric traits has proven to be an effective component in establishing the "biological profile" of unknown individuals in these cases. The second goal of this paper is to introduce methods used at the PCOME to establish the "cultural profile" of individuals in these cases. The "cultural profile" is a set of identification criteria that include: the geographic context of recovery, personal effects, dental health, and cultural accoutrements. Establishing the "cultural profile" in these cases is essential in identifying individuals as foreign nationals who have died trying to cross the border.
This study documents skull fracture characteristics on infant porcine specimens under known impact conditions with respect to age and interface. A single impact causing fracture was conducted on the skull of porcine specimens aged 2-28 days (n = 76). Paired rigid and compliant impacts at the same energy were conducted at each specimen age. Impact force, impact duration, and fracture length were recorded. Energy required to initiate skull fracture increased with specimen age. For a given energy, impact of the skull with a compliant interface caused more fracture damage than with a rigid interface for specimens aged under 17 days, but less damage for specimens aged 24-28 days. The documentation of energy required to cause fracture and resulting fracture propagation with respect to impact interface and age may be of critical importance in forensic investigations of infant skull trauma.
There is a 1 in 3 chance of abuse in a case where a child less than 18 months has a skull fracture [1]. The most commonly fractured site on the skull is the parietal bone, however it is currently difficult to establish the causation of injury based on the characteristics of the injury [2]. Thus, injury biomechanics are often utilized in the investigation of suspected child abuse cases [3]. Computer simulations, test dummies, and animal models are all used as aids in the assessment of skull fracture causation. For a given impact situation, a number of variables can control the pattern of skull fracture. A study by Baumer et. al assessed the effects of interface and age using an infant porcine skull model, specifically looking at the location of fracture initiation on the parietal bone [4]. This study showed that in low energy impacts fracture initiation occurs at the bone-suture boundary. Also, a deformable interface caused more fracture than a rigid interface for very young subjects. The current study was conducted to assess the effects of higher energy impacts on the patterns of fracture in this model.
In January 1989 highway workers encountered human skeletal remains in a gravel quarry in south-central Idaho near the town of Buhl. Excavation revealed the remains of a young Paleoindian woman, 17–21 years of age at the time of death, with craniofacial attributes similar to other North American Indian and East Asian populations. She was buried in windblown and colluvial sediments immediately overlying Bonneville flood gravel. Grave goods include a large stemmed biface, an eyed needle, and a bone implement of unknown function. Isotopic analysis suggests a diet of meat and fish, including anadromous fish. Radiographs show numerous periods of dietary stress throughout the woman's childhood. AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) dating indicates an age of 10,675±95 B.P., and geomorphological studies verify this single radiocarbon date suggesting it is the burial's minimum age. Following Idaho State law, the skeleton was claimed by the Shoshone-Bannock tribes of Idaho and reburied.
Over the last three decades, forensic anthropologists increasingly have consulted on fleshed human remains cases in which the examination of skeletal elements is critical in answering questions of identification and the circumstances of death. This was certainly the case at the Human Identification Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona. As the caseload increased, it became clear that a method for defleshing human remains was needed in order to expeditiously expose the osseous surfaces for analysis, yet at the same time, preserving the evidentiary nature of the material. As a result, a fast, safe and economical method for defleshing human remains and producing high quality, degreased skeletal elements was developed. This non-bleaching cooking method utilizes chemicals that are easily obtained and inexpensive standard household ingredients that can be purchased at most grocery stores.
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