“Is this my Great Aunt?”: An Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains to Construct a Biological Profile

UC South Ballroom

Forensic anthropology is the sub-discipline that applies the principles and methods of physical anthropology to medico-legal cases. Forensic anthropologists have a multiplicity of skills that are used in various ways, but amongst those is the ability to construct a biological profile from a set, or sets of, unknown, skeletonized remains. Biological profiles of adult human skeletal remains consist of sex, age-at-death, ancestry, stature, trauma, and pathology. The information gained through these analyses are used in two ways: to provide immediate supporting evidence for identification, and to provide a means of narrowing potential lists of individuals. There are various methods to complete this process, but the most common include analyzing the morphoscopic traits of the skeleton, particularly the cranium and pelvis, and using various measurements of the long bones (humerus, femur, etc.).

This research will focus on the process of creating a biological profile for an unknown historic skeleton brought to the University of Montana Forensic Anthropology Laboratory (UMFAL). This individual represents one of three historic skeletons found in unmarked graves in Beaverhead County, MT. The goal of this research was to aid in the identification of these remains using multiple methods to create a complete biological profile for the individual. Our analysis found that the remains are most consistent with a female individual aged 35-45 years at death, with a height between 4 ft 9 ins and 5 ft 5 ins, most likely of European ancestry with some Asian admixture, and no perimortem trauma. This individual likely died in the early to mid 1900’s based on artifacts associated with the remains. Biological profiles are the backbone of Forensic Anthropology and this research is unique in that it combines the profile based on the skeletal analysis with historic artifact analysis all with the goal of identification.