{"id":27937,"date":"2023-10-09T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T16:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=27937"},"modified":"2024-02-01T14:38:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T22:38:40","slug":"forensic-anthropology-tools-of-the-trade","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/forensic-anthropology-tools-of-the-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Forensic Anthropology Tools of the Trade\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Amy Whipple<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In 1992, forensic anthropologist <\/span>Mercedes (Mimi) Doretti <\/b>(pictured above, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1980s) traveled to El Salvador as part of a U.N.-sponsored team to investigate <\/span>the 1981 El Mozote massacre. Almost 1,000 people had been killed in the village, the largest single massacre in modern Latin American history.<\/span><\/p>\n

The information the team had going into an area that was once a church suggested they were going to find the remains of local men. \u201c<\/span>It was a very tense situation,\u201d Doretti told me over a Zoom conversation, \u201cbecause of all this confrontation, all the different versions of what had happened there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, when the team started unearthing remains, \u201cit was one child after another.\u201d There were tiny dresses, pants, toys\u2014and 263 cartridge cases in and around the site.<\/span><\/p>\n

This moment is featured in <\/span>El Equipo<\/i><\/a><\/strong>, <\/span>the documentary that follows a team of forensic anthropologists as they work toward bringing justice in cases of human rights abuses in Latin America.<\/span><\/p>\n

Origins of Forensic Anthropology, and the Tech Used Therein<\/b><\/p>\n

Forensic anthropology is the application of physical anthropology to a legal context, defined by the <\/span>Smithsonian<\/span><\/a> as involving “applying skeletal analysis and techniques in archaeology to solving criminal cases.” It has been used for a range of cases in size and notoriety, from solving single-victim cold cases to identifying multiple victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the 1970s, to aiding in the conviction of Saddam Hussein.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1866, in what is considered the beginning of the subfield (though the term \u201cforensic anthropology\u201d didn\u2019t exist yet), Dr. Jeffries Wyman testified in the trial of one Harvard professor accused of murdering another. He analyzed the victim\u2019s dismembered bones and helped confirm the man\u2019s identity in conjunction with the victim\u2019s dentist (dental record) and a handwriting analyst.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Forensic

Forensic Anthropology Lab at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.<\/p><\/div>\n

Identifying human remains using X-ray technology is first documented in a 1927 article in the <\/span>Journal of the American Medical Association<\/span><\/i><\/a>. A man, referred to as J. L., received X-rays as part of a surgery to relieve headaches. Five years later, he disappeared while traveling. For reasons of inheritance, his body was examined when it was returned to the United States, where imaging of his skull after death was compared to those taken around his surgery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1972\u2014the same year computerized tomography (CT) technology, or computerized axial tomography (CAT), was invented\u2014the subdiscipline of forensic anthropology was added to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tori

Tori Randall, Ph.D. prepares a 550-year old Peruvian child mummy for a CT scan. Via US Navy\/public domain.<\/p><\/div>\n

Five years later, forensic anthropologists founded the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and in 2003 Doretti and her colleagues formed the Latin American Association of Forensic Anthropology. Both organizations offer certifications in the subdiscipline.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In 1984, Dr. Clyde Snow, a forensic anthropologist from the United States, went to Argentina to help bring justice to the approximately 30,000 people who were disappeared by their government in the 1970s. Doretti was among a group of graduate students who met, trained, and began collaborating with Snow. Their work was the first time forensic anthropology was used in human rights abuse cases.<\/span><\/p>\n\"Sign<\/a>\n

From Satellites to GPS-D: Starting an Investigation with the Tech of the Trade<\/b><\/p>\n

To start a case, a forensic anthropology team conducts a preliminary investigation, beginning with interviewing witnesses, survivors, and family members for information about what happened, where it happened, and who it happened to.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the case of El Mozote, Doretti\u2019s team already knew where mass graves were, but didn\u2019t know <\/span>who<\/span><\/i> was buried there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When forensic anthropologists don\u2019t know where exactly to look, one tool is to use <\/span>before-and-after satellite imagery<\/b>. Doretti says that this technology has \u201cimproved significantly,\u201d allowing for pixel-level analysis for changes in the landscape.<\/span> Collaborators for analyzing satellite imagery include a United Nations center in Geneva and a division of Human Rights Watch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Another method is <\/span>LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging),<\/b> a laser most often used from an aircraft to create a topographical map. This creates visualizations of disturbances in the soil or subsoil. \u201cNo technology can show you [definitively] where a mass grave is,\u201d Doretti says, only changes \u201cin the surroundings that may indicate the presence of a clandestine grave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

A lidar map of Lynnhaven Inlet, Virginia, courtesy National Ocean Service.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ground-penetrating radar can also be used to find hidden graves. The advantage of satellite imagery and LiDAR is they also help keep forensic anthropologists safe in areas with military governments or extensive organized crime. \u201cThe less time you spend in the area the better,” Doretti says, “So this technology can help you to reduce the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Once a team is on-site, forensic anthropologists can utilize <\/span>GPS-D<\/b>, a computer program that uses GPS data and can mark a location with an accuracy of within a few centimeters, as they document their findings.<\/span><\/p>\n

DNA: The Importance of Genetic Testing<\/b><\/p>\n

X-ray, CT, and MRI technology can assist in analyzing\u2014and visually documenting\u2014human remains for potential age, sex, and cause of death. But the biggest, most welcomed technological change Doretti has seen in her almost 40 years in the field is the use of DNA for identification.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to being able to use DNA, Doretti sys, \u201cIt was horrible because you may have this suspicion the remains may belong to this person and you have seven features that match\u2014but they were not enough.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The kinds of human rights abuse cases Doretti works on mean that remains are either already skeletal or badly decomposed or burned. The victim population is also unlikely to have dental records or X-rays from before they died (taken, for instance, after breaking an arm).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Women of the Space Agency: Once Forbidden, No Longer Hidden<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n

Forensic anthropologists still have to do their best to otherwise analyze remains for identifying information. “Any good geneticist will always tell you, \u2018Please check because there\u2019s millions of things that can go wrong’ with testing,” Doretti says. “Especially if the samples are compromised.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Doretti wishes that there would be an equally revolutionary breakthrough in technology that would help find clandestine graves. While no one knows yet, she wonders if the answer might be in what\u2019s being learned at body farms with spectrum imagery and chemical levels in the soil. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing at least I\u2019d love to see in the next decade or so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"

Luis Fondebrider and Patricia Bernardi, members of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, work in the Avellenada Cemetery in the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 1985. (Credit: Courtesy Eric Stover)<\/p><\/div>\n

Other Tools and Skills<\/b><\/p>\n

Forensic anthropologists use other important tools, too, that are not physical objects like lasers and scans. To be successful, they must be able to use communication skills, whether within the multidisciplinary team (<\/span>a team might then include experts in ballistics, botany, or entomologists, among others)<\/span> or with the public.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething we learned over the years [is] if you talk just among yourselves, then that\u2019s great,\u201d says Doretti, \u201cbut most people won\u2019t understand what on earth are you talking about, and therefore, you may lose the case.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the dangers in forensic anthropology is when law enforcement and\/or governments willfully misinterpret or misrepresent findings. “The more science advances, the more it becomes sometimes more complicated to dispute something if you\u2019re not within that field,\u201d Doretti says. The key, she adds, is keeping information from being abstract and establishing themselves as credible sources to the public\u00a0through experience and investigative success.<\/span><\/p>\n