Forensic Anthropology

"They are speaking secrets to me and to my students, yielding up hidden information, furnishing ideas and evidence to the world of the living" (Maples 33). This is a quote from the book Dead Men Do Tell Tales, written by Williams R. Maples, Ph.D. He is referring to bones and how many stories they can tell to Forensic Anthropologists. Forensic anthropology is the examination of skeletal remains. This examination can be used to first determine if the remains are in fact human. Then the forensic anthropologist can determine the gender, approximate age, physical build, and likely racial link of the person in life. The identification of skeletal badly decomposed, or otherwise an unidentified human remains is important for both legal and civilized reasons. Forensic anthropologists often work in concurrence with forensic pathologists, odontologists, and homicide investigators to identify a decedent, discover evidence of foul play, and/or the postmortem time.…