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The Characteristics Of Forensic Anthropology

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Forensic anthropology is the branch of anthropology which deals with the recovery of remains as well as the identification of skeletal remains which involve detail knowledge of osteology (skeletal anatomy and biology). In other words, forensic anthropology is the application of anthropological knowledge and techniques in the identification of human remains in medico-legal and humanitarian context. Forensic anthropology includes the identification of skeletal, decomposed or unidentified human remains. Forensic anthropology may also help determine the age, sex, stature and unique features of deceased from their remains. Personal identification is one of the main aspects of medico-legal and criminal investigations. Identification is important when unknown, fragmentary, burned or decomposed remains are recovered. This becomes more important especially in cases of major mass disasters where numbers of individuals are involved. Personal identification in broad terms includes estimation of age, sex, stature, and ethnicity. These estimations can be done by using various scientific techniques which can narrow down the range of individuals from the pool of possible victims or criminals (Nafte, 2009).
Human impressions such as finger prints, lip prints, ear prints and foot prints are widely available at the crime scenes. The physical evidences are gathered at any crime scene, for example, hair, fibre, blood, fingerprints, footwear, bare-footprints, tire impressions and any fracture

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