Human Osteology, Taphonomy and Forensic Recovery of Human Remains

This course is hosted by the Whatcom County Emergency Operations Center.

The role of the forensic anthropologist in the medico-legal system is to assist investigators  with the  identification  of deceased individuals, particularly those in advanced stages of decomposition and those who have skeletonized. Forensic anthropologists specialize in the detailed archaeological recovery of human remains from  a  variety  of  contexts,  conduct biological and forensic analyses of human remains,  and  have  expert  training  in detecting patterns of trauma, postmortem alteration  of  remains,  and  estimating the  time  since  death.  Since  forensic anthropology employs the principles of anthropology to analyze legal problems involving human osteological material, it is an applied science that embraces both anthropological and forensic studies.