"Fridays in the Lab" November 18, 2005

Forensic Anthropology/Human Evolution

by Professor Melissa Murphy, Department of Anthropology.

Biological anthropology is the study of human
biology within the framework of evolution, with
an emphasis on the interaction between biology
and cultural. Biological anthropology is
composed of several subfields, including
paleoanthropology (or human evolution),
primatology, paleopathology, and forensic
anthropology. The study of the human skeleton is
a central component of these subfields

The purpose of the laboratory in biological
anthropology was twofold. First, the forensic
anthropology component was intended to introduce
the students to the human skeleton through the
methods and techniques of forensic anthropology.
When analyzing human remains, forensic
anthropologists follow a specific protocol and
attempt to answer the following questions:

Are the bones human or animal?
Are the remains of one individual or
are there several individuals present?
Are the bones recent (< 50 years) or ancient?
When did the death occur or what is
the time since death (postmortem interval)
What is the ancestry of the remains?
Are the remains male or female?
How old was the deceased at the time of death? Adult or child?
How tall was this individual during life?
What was the cause of death (e.g. bullet wound to head)? What was the manner of death? (homicide, suicide, accident, unknown)

Each laboratory station was designed as an
exercise addressing one or more of these
questions through hands-on examination of human
skeletal remains.In addition, parts of this were
designed to dovetail with the preceding
laboratory in forensic DNA.

The second part of the laboratory in biological
anthropology was an overview of some of the major
evolutionary trends in human history,
specifically the evolution of bipedalism and the
morphological changes in the cranium accompanying
the increase in brain size. Students used casts
and actual skeletal material to compare the
skeletal anatomy of different nonhuman primates,
extinct fossils in the human family (e.g. Homo
erectus, Neandertals), and modern humans.

Return to previous Lab: Friday November 4, 2005 Molecular Biology/DNA Fingerprinting taught by Professor Tamara Davis, and Professor J.D. Swanson, Department of Biology.