4th Edition

Forensic Anthropology Training Manual

By Dawn M. Mulhern, Karen Ramey Burns Copyright 2027
338 Pages 275 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

338 Pages 275 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Forensic Anthropology Training Manual , fourth edition serves as a practical reference tool and a framework for training in forensic anthropology. It introduces readers to the field of forensic anthropology, including methods for identifying, recovering, and analyzing human bone in medicolegal contexts. An introductory chapter situates forensic anthropology within the forensic sciences and... Read more

1. Introduction

2. Bone Biology

3. The Skull and Hyoid

4. The Shoulder Girdle and Thorax: Clavicle, Scapula, Ribs, and Sternum

5. The Vertebral Column

6. The Upper Limb: Humerus, Radius, and Ulna

7. The Hand: Carpals, Metacarpals, and Phalanges

8. The Pelvic Girdle: Ilium, Ischium, and Pubis

9. The Lower Limb: Femur, Tibia, Fibula, and Patella

10. The Foot: Tarsals, Metatarsals, and Phalanges

11. Odontology (Teeth)

12. Distinguishing Human and Nonhuman Bone

13. Field Methods

14. Forensic Taphonomy and Postmortem Interval

15. Laboratory Analysis I: Preparation and Inventory

16. Laboratory Analysis II: Biological Profile

17. Laboratory Analysis III: Trauma, Disease, and Individual Identification

18. Professional Results

19. Large-Scale Applications

Appendix A: Craniometry
Appendix B: Forms and Diagrams

Glossary of Terms
Bibliography

Biography

Dawn M. Mulhern is a practicing biological anthropologist with expertise in forensic anthropology, skeletal biology, paleopathology, and bioarchaeology. She is a professor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado where she has taught since 2005; she currently holds the position of Associate Provost. She regularly consults with local, state, tribal, and federal agencies in cases involving skeletal remains. Dr. Mulhern has served as chair of the education subcommittee for the Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences since 2015. She worked at the Repatriation Osteology Laboratory at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution from 1998 to 2005. Her publications include book chapters and journal articles on distinguishing human and nonhuman bone and age estimation methods. She has been a member of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) since 1999 and was deployed in 2001 to Shanksville, Pennsylvania and in 2002 to New York following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Karen Ramey Burns was a renowned forensic anthropologist, educator, writer, and human rights advocate whose impactful career left a lasting legacy. She taught at the University of Georgia, as well the U.S. Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP). She testified as an expert witness in numerous local, state, and international cases. She documented war crimes in Iraq (1991) and testified in Haiti’s Raboteau Trial (2000). She authored the United Nations’ “Protocol for Disinterment and Analysis of Skeletal Remains” (1991), a significant contribution to human rights investigations. She worked with the National Disaster Medical System during emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina (2005) and the 9/11 attacks. She contributed to historic research, such as identifying Casimir Pulaski and investigating Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. At the time of her passing, she was Director of Field Investigations for EQUITAS, the Colombian Interdisciplinary Team for Forensic Work and Psychosocial Assistance, Bogotá, Colombia.