BROKEN BONES: Anthropological Analysis of Blunt Force Trauma (2nd Ed.)The editors, along with 15 outstanding contributors, comprehensively explore and provide an overview of the principles behind the interpretation of skeletal blunt force trauma. This expanded second edition provides a discussion on how to train for a career in forensic anthropology and offers guidance on how to complete a thorough trauma analysis. It also provides the labels given to different kinds of fractures and the biomechanical forces required to cause bone to fail and fracture. The text provides a theoretical framework for both evaluating published trauma studies and designing new ones. Experimental trauma research is an area ripe for research, and criteria to consider in choosing which non-human species to use in an actualistic study are offered. Common circumstances in which blunt force trauma is encountered are described. Information is provided on a variety of causes of death due to blunt force trauma. These causes range from accidental deaths to homicides due to blunt force from motor vehicle accidents, falls, strangulation, child and elder abuse, among others. Epidemiological information on whom is most likely affected by these various kinds of blunt force trauma is drawn from both the clinical and forensic literature. The most fundamental elements of the text are offered in four chapters where, bone by bone, fracture by fracture, the authors describe what to call each kind of fracture, what is known about how much force is required to break the bone that way, and fracture specific epidemiological information. This particular section of the text provides an invaluable reference source for forensic anthropologists and other osteologists to consult when looking at and trying to classify a bone fracture. Case studies are included to bring the book full circle back to considering the micro and macro bone changes that are seen when bone fails and fractures. The case studies are illustrative both of the concepts described through the book and of the high quality analyses forensic anthropologists contribute to medicolegal investigations of death every day. The text is further enhanced by 150 illustrations, some in color. This completely updated and expanded new volume is an essential reference for the forensic anthropology professional. |
From inside the book
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... victim so as to avoid biasing our analysis. We must train by apprenticeship to gain the knowledge and experience needed in examining one person's remains and to rely on skeletal features and measurements to best contextualize ...
... victims of crime and determining their cause and manner of death is much more of a team sport. While death ... victim and his or her cause and manner of death. Among the players who collect and analyze the evidence are forensic ...
... victim's remains. Incomplete recovery may jeopardize trauma interpretation, and it may be necessary to revisit the crime scene to look for missing pieces. With the advent of digital photography, the expense of photography has decreased ...
... victim, it may be hard to resist the tendency to align oneself with one adversarial party against the other. The “golden rule” of the expert witness is that they are not personally involved in the case. The interpretation of the results ...
... victims or with contact with possibly defective materials is often addressed in civil suits. The key to good expert ... victim died that the anthropologist will not be able to answer, the attorney must be ready to address these points ...
Contents
Section III B | 327 |
Section III C | 336 |
Section III D | 350 |
Section III E | 362 |
Section III F | 369 |
Section III G | 379 |
Section III H | 391 |
Section III I | 399 |