Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter gives a brief description of what forensic anthropologists do and how they fit into the medicolegal community, and the field of jurisprudence. It also gives a history of the field, from its earliest times (in the 1800s) to the present, mentioning the most important people who influenced its development from a time when it was of secondary importance to biological anthropologists, to the more professional field, staffed by specially trained experts, that it is today. Finally, the information that forensic anthropologists attempt to derive from human bones are listed as well as how this influenced the layout of this book.

Recommended Further Reading
Useful Weblinks

Recommended Further Reading

Classic Texts

These are the seminal works on forensic anthropology, written by the founders of the field: Wilton Marion Krogman and T. Dale Stewart.
Krogman, W. M. (1939). Guide to the identification of human skeletal material. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 8:3–31.
Krogman, W. M. (1962). The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Krogman, W. M., Iscan, M. Y. (1986). The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine, 2nd ed. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Stewart, T. D. (1979). Essentials of Forensic Anthropology. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Modern Texts

These are the more recent texts on forensic anthropology that cover the basic methods in the field.
Burns, K. R. (2013) Forensic Anthropology Training Manual, 3rd ed. New York: Pearson.
Christensen, A. M., Passalacqua, N. V., Bartelink, E.J. (2013) Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice.
Klepinger, L. L. (2006). Fundamentals of Forensic Anthropology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Komar, D. A., Buikstra, J. E. (2008) Forensic Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pickering, R. B., Bachman, D. (2009) The Use of Forensic Anthropology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
ersigni-Tarrant, M. T., Shirley, N. R. (2012) Forensic Anthropology: An Introduction. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Case Study Readers

These texts contain descriptions of forensic anthropological methods using of actual cases.
Fairgrieve, S. I. (1999). Forensic Osteological Analysis: A Book of Case Studies. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas
Ferllini, R. (2002). Silent Witness. How Forensic Anthropology Is Used to Solve the World’s Toughest Crimes. Willow Dale, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books.
Galloway, A., ed. (1999). Broken Bones: Anthropological Analysis of Blunt Force Trauma. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Morse, D., Duncan, J., Stoutamire, J. (1983). Handbook of Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology. Tallahassee, FL: Rose Printing.
Rathbun, T. A., Buikstra, J. E., eds. (1984). Human Identification. Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Reichs, K. J., ed. (1998). Forensic Osteology Advances in the Identification of Human Remains, 2nd ed. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Steadman, D. W. (2003). Hard Evidence. Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Stewart, T. D., ed. (1970). Personal Identification in Mass Disasters. Washington, DC: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

Popular Literature (Non-fiction)

These texts describe actual forensic anthropological cases worked by their authors.
Maples, W. R., Browning, M. (1994). Dead Men Do Tell Tales. The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist. New York: Doubleday.
Manhein, M. H. (1999). The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist. New York: Penguin Publishing Group.
Rhine, S. (1998). Bone Voyage. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Ubelaker, D. H., Scammell, H. (1992). Bones: A Forensic Detective’s Casebook. New York: M. Evans and Company.

Probability and Statistics

These texts present basic and advanced concepts in elementary probability and statistics, and the two main quantitative methods of forensic anthropology: regression and discriminant function analysis.
Draper, N. R., Smith, H. (1998). Applied Regression Analysis,3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This is the classic textbook on regression analysis, which covers both basic and advanced concepts.
Garson, G. D. (2008). Discriminant Function Analysis. Asheboro, NC: Statistical Associates Publishers.
A modern, short text on discriminant function analysis.
Sokal, R. R., Rolf, F. J. (1995). Biometry, 3rd ed. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.
This text on probability and statistics is most commonly used book by biological and forensic anthropologists.

Useful Weblinks

Hear Kathy Reichs (author of BONES) talk about forensic anthropology!

Dr. Michael Kenyhercz has a great podcast covering many topics in forensic anthropology with practicing forensic anthropologists.

Episode 10 Vol. 3 No.13- Dr. Doug Ubelaker on the Historical Development of Forensic Anthropology (available where ever you get your podcasts)