Elements of a forensic investigation: 1) The basic elements of an initial forensic examination should: a. Identify basic demographic info about decedent b. Screen for features leading to a positive identification 2) Reconstruct cause of death, manner of death, help interpret crime scene Sexing – discriminating between male and female 1. Metric 2. Non- metric Aging – estimation of an individuals age at death 1. Absolute age 2. Age class 3. Seriation – relative age; place in order: youngest to oldest Ancestry – estimation of an individuals heritage Estimating structure – determining height 1. Based on creating a relationship of some measurable feature to that on an individual of known height – regression analysis Pubic symphysis – where the pubis potions of each half of the pelvis articulate near your belt like – the pubic bones are held together by ligaments Sex Assessment: 1. Identify his or her sex a. Eliminates 50% of the population of missing person form consideration b. Based on the fact that women give birth – pelvic structure c. Men are larger than women – based on evolutionary history of monogamy Sexing a skeleton Male female or indeterminate Based on a degrees of sexual dimorphism in a population Methods: Metric – dimensions with breakpoints Nonmetric – pelvic morphology, cranial morphology – more accurate Accuracy – how close a measured value is to the actual or true value Precision – how close the measure values are to one another Order of accuracy: Pelvis – primary sexual characteristics Cranium – secondary sexual characteristics Post cranium and dentition – based on sexual dimorphism Sex characteristics of skeleton are not well developed – adults only Terms: Sexual dimorphism – sex based two forms, that is the tendency for males and females of a species to vary in size with males being larger primates Distribution