No Bone Unturned
Anthropology through out the years has extremely grown; anthropology is the study of human kind over the entire world and throughout time. Over time, anthropologist have developed a variety of skills and answered many questions that have been unknown for many years in many other work fields. The popularity of anthropologist in the forensic workforce has been recognized and has given anthropologist another venue in the same type of field. In this paper I will discuss how the specialation of forensic anthropology exemplifies an applied anthropologist approach? Furthermore, I will also explain in detail how might a forensic anthropologist could be useful to a paleoanthropologist, archaeologist and a human rights investigation.
In the article of No Bone Unturned written by Patrick Huyghe described in detail the work life of Clyde C. Snow a physical anthropologist who later became famous in the forensic world. “Clyde Snow is perhaps the world’s most sought-after forensic anthropologist” (Huyghe 28) Snow has inspected many hundreds of bones through out his life time. Because of forensic anthropology many body identifications have been made even after hundreds of years of decomposition. Not only does forensic anthropology help the forensic work force but it also brings relief and closure to families that have been missing relatives for years. In the article No Bone Unturned, Snow explained how the janitor at his work one day did not come into work and was shortly reported missing after that. Coincidentally after years have gone by, Snow was analyzing some bones that were found in a box and later discovered the dental records matched the missing janitors.
The specialization in forensic anthropology exemplifies an applied anthropological approach by the amount of study and research that a forensic anthropologist needs to do on the remains of a human. Not only is forensic anthropology a branch of the forensic science but it also applies to other types of forensic anthropology such as: identifying war by the dead, victims of human rights and recovery of buried evidence in general. All the methods that anthropologist use when evaluating bones are the same methods that are used in modern cases of unidentified human remains. In the identification of skeletal remains the anthropologist will provide information to the law enforcement regarding the gender, age, ethnicity, height, length of time since death and evaluation of trauma seen on bones. All these factors are extremely useful in determining who the skeletal remains belonged to and the cause of death.
Forensic anthropologists are useful to many other branches of science such as paleoanthropologist, archaeologist and human rights investigation. Both paleoanthropologist and archaeologist are extremely useful in the specific realm of expertise of osteology and pathology. Paleoanthropologist and archaeologist have specific fields of study where and a forensic anthropologist field of study covers more of the study of remains and can provide more information. With this type of expertise many discovery of bones have been identified, such as: the World War II graveyards and the remains found at the battlefields of Little Big Horn stated in the article of No Bone Unturned written by Patrick Huyghe. Forensic anthropologists are also very useful to a human rights investigation. The comprehensive study of remains and reveal so much about how our history has evolved. Forensic anthropologist can determine whether a human was being mistreated before death and can identify how the humans died “There are human-rights going on all over the world.”(Snow 28) Though generations and generations have past human rights are always being violated and are kept a secret because of fear of punishment from the government. With the help of forensic anthropologist history will continue to be studied and continued to be discovered.
In conclusion, the popularity and demand for forensic anthropologist has grown through out the years, with their help the bodies found are being identified and history is continued to be being told. In a sense, forensic anthropologist have become crime investigators with their comprehensive research and study of remains the final outcome of the information they are able to provide such as: Gender, age, height, cause of death and the length of time of death is extremely valuable to our forensic department and to our world on general.
“Work Cited”
Huyghe, Patrick . Profile of an Anthropologist No Bone Unturned. 1988.
