ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 6

Clarifying the Role of Forensic Anthropologists in Death Investigations
Simson, LR
Associate pathologist, E. W. Sparrow Hospital, MI

Sauer, NJ
Assistant professor, Michigan State University, MI

(Received 15 March 1984; accepted 9 April 1984)

Abstract

Although their customary role is the identification of decomposed human remains, forensic anthropologists are frequently called upon to provide evidence for or to testify about the circumstances that surrounded a particular death. The literature is ambiguous and contradictory about the role of anthropologists in death investigations. Relying upon traditional distinctions, we present three cases that illustrate the presence of evidence for “manner of death” on decomposed remains. Then we argue that evidence for vital reactions, necessary for the determination of “cause of death,” rarely if ever survives skeletonization, and while forensic anthropologists can be expected to provide evidence for the determination of manner of death, they are unlikely to contribute to the discovery of its cause.

Keywords:
physical anthropology, death, human identification, decomposition

Paper ID: JFS11774J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS11774J
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