Assignment Code: BANC-113/ASST/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: BANC-113

Assignment Name: Forensic Anthropology

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Total Marks: 100

There are three Sections in the Assignment. Answer all the questions in all the three sections.

Assignment –I

Answer any two of the following questions in about 500 words each. 20x2

a. Briefly discuss the history of forensic anthropology.

Ans) The development of methods and principles for comparing and identifying physical evidence is connected to the diversification and growth of the forensic science field. People who have realised how important it is to integrate all of these ideas into one science are also advocates for the advancement of forensic science. Numerous scientists have made unique contributions to the growth of forensics.

The following information provides a general idea of the contributions made by each person, based on their bios, to the advancement of scientific techniques, which ultimately helped forensic science grow and develop. Physical anthropologists and anatomists were occasionally asked to lend their assistance in the human identification process, which is when forensic anthropology got its start. The first scientific study on poison detection and its effects on animals was published in 1813 by Mathiew Orfina, the man credited as the father of modern toxicology and a native of Spain.

John E. Purkinji wrote the first paper on the subject of fingerprints in 1823, and it suggested a classification scheme for fingerprints based on nine different types of principles. In 1835, M. Orfilla, a French forensic medicine expert, published a book with information on arm bone measurements and sex differences.

The first microscopic crystal test using hemin crystals for haemoglobin was proposed by Ludwig Teichmann in 1853. Then, in 1892, Francis Galton published a book titled Fingerprints in which he discussed the individuality and uniqueness of fingerprints. Hans Gross, a public defender, published his first treatise detailing the use of his scientific approaches in criminal investigation. Thomas Dwight published a paper titled "The Identification of Human Skeleton: A Medico-Legal Study" in 1878.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, one of the earliest cases of osteological expertise was published. In 1889, E. Rollet illustrated charts for reconstructing male and female stature from lengths of bone. K. Pearson and L. Manouvier later used all of this raw data to develop new stature estimation techniques.

Bertillon System of Identification

Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, created the first anthropometric system in 1879 that used physical body part measurements, particularly of the face and head, to create a comprehensive account of each individual. This technique, also known as Bertillonage or the Bertillon system, is a well-known and effective way to identify criminals scientifically.

Early Genetic Testing for Human Identification

The human blood groups were discovered by Karl Landsteiner in 1901. Red blood cells (RBCs) contain antigens that can be used to identify specific individuals. Antigens are not alleles; rather, they are the product of the particular allele that a person's DNA has coded for. Rh, ABO, MNS, Duffy, Kell, and Kidd are the six different blood group systems that have been used to identify humans. Each blood group and the ABO system are derived from a genetic locus used in genetic testing to identify humans.

Masaeo Takayama introduced the microscopic crystal test for haemoglobin using crystals of hem chromogen in 1912. Leone Lattes created a straightforward method to identify the blood group of a dried blood stain in 1915. This test was useful in resolving marital conflicts. The Lyon Police Department gave Edmond Locard the option to establish the first police laboratory in 1910, allowing for the scientific analysis of the evidence gathered from crime scenes. A cross transfer of evidence occurs when two objects come into contact with one another, according to the Locard Exchange principle, which he also developed. Each object will either take something from the other or leave something behind.

b. Discuss in brief blood stains.

Ans) Based on their physical characteristics, such as size, shape, location, concentration, and distribution, the bloodstains and patterns are categorised. There are many different ways to categorise bloodstain patterns, but the overall analysis is the goal of classification. The steps for classification are established so that the analyst can more precisely define the cause of any given stain. Based on the size distribution of bloodstains and the force required to produce them, many texts categorise them as Low, Medium, and High velocity spatter. Based on their appearance and method of transfer onto a surface, bloodstains are categorised. Additionally, it was divided into three basic categories: projected or impact stains, transfer stains, and passive stains.

1. Passive Stains: Drops, flows, splashes, and pools are examples of passive stains. These are typically caused by gravity acting on an injured body. These stains can be broken down into:

2. Drops: These stains develop when blood passively drips while being affected by gravity. They may appear alone, in groups, or as a trail, indicating movement and its direction. However, if the victim moves slowly and the drops fall at a 90-degree angle, causing the stains to be more or less oval, it may be challenging to determine the direction. A typical scenario is when you cut yourself and leave a drip trail leading to the closest washbasin from the scene of the accident.

3. Flows: These take place when blood passively flows to form tiny rivers or streams of blood. These can be helpful for figuring out the victim's orientation during the attack or movement after passing away. For instance, if someone is stabbed in the chest while they are standing, a trickle of blood will flow down their body vertically. However, if the person were lying on the ground, the flow would shift to the side of the body that is angled toward the ground.

4. Transfer Stains:: Transfers happen when items come into contact with bloodstains that already exist and leave wipes, swipes, or pattern transfers in their wake, like a bloody shoe print or a smear from dragging a body. These stains can be broken down into:

5. Wipe Pattern: a changed bloodstain pattern caused by something passing through an already-existing, wet bloodstain.

6. Swipe Pattern: a bloodstain pattern that develops when blood is transferred from one surface to another and has features that show the relative motion of the two surfaces.

7. Transfer Stain: When moist blood is transferred from one object to another, these happen. For instance, a bloody knife can leave a stain on clothing, a bloody hand can leave a mark on a weapon or a doorknob, and someone stepping in blood can leave a print on their shoes.

8. Projected or Impact Stains: When a blood source is exposed to an external force greater than gravity, these stains are produced. Blood that projects through the air causes impact stains, which are typically visible as spatter but may also include gushes, splashes, and arterial spray. Impact spatter, which is produced when a force is applied to a liquid blood source, and projection spatter are the two types of blood spatter (caused by arterial spurting, expiated spray or spatter cast off an object).

Assignment –II

Answer the following questions in about 250 words each. 10x2

a. Write short notes on the following

i. Bite marks

Ans) Bite marks are the traces of teeth discovered on clothing or other items abandoned at crime scenes. Although the position of the teeth is typically indicated, each person's dentition pattern is different. A single tooth exhibits enormous variation. Therefore, the damage caused by teeth is very significant. Bite marks frequently play a significant role and are probably used as a form of exclusion. On the victim's body parts and occasionally on the offender's as well, there may be bite marks. These marks are frequently discovered in rape, sexual assault, and other cases.

In addition to body parts, fruits, hard cheese, and other items frequently have bite marks. Saliva found in bite marks may be used to identify the attacker's DNA. Self-inflicted bite marks are also possible. The bite marks frequently appear on the shoulders, back, neck, arms, and legs. Pretty created the Bite mark severity Index to standardise the terminology used to describe bite marks. Human bite marks typically have an oval or circular shape.

Collection of Bite Mark

The first 24 hours following a bite mark see the majority of morphological changes. The dents might disappear after a few hours. Therefore, the first requirement is that all the data associated with a bite mark be secured as soon as possible. Abrasions, bleeding, the location of the injury, and its severity should all be noted. Photos should also include and exclude scaling.

Examination of Bite Mark

The forensic odontologist is first in charge of overseeing the accused's overall dentition pattern. Following supervision, a variety of casting techniques are used. Casting should be done as much as possible on the same material as the suspected bite mark. In addition, many other materials are used, such as fast-setting rubber or silicon-based materials. Several impressions are made on the test surface during casting from various angles.

ii. Somatometry

Ans) In somatometry, the word "Soma" stands for "living," and the word "metric" stands for "measure." As a result, the definition of somatometry as a branch of anthropometry is as follows: systematic methods for measuring living things, including the head and face. Anthropologists developed a number of somatometric measurements to describe the morphology of humans that are based on specific anatomical landmarks. Somatometry can be used to study the physical dimensions and gross composition of the human body, which are influenced by a variety of factors, primarily by various levels of nutrition and chronic illness.

Somatometric measurements are used to compare people from different ethnic backgrounds in order to study differences in body types and to compare racial groups. They are also used to study and monitor growth, nutritional status, and development in children, adolescents, and adults, among other things. Somatometric surveys of various populations produce databases that have been useful for designing appropriate tools and equipment used in industry, ergonomic spacecraft, and well-fitting clothing, among other things.

The results of somatometric or anthropometric surveys give us some norms, parameters, or guidelines regarding the morphological trends in any population as well as the physical characteristics of that population. Alphonse Bertillon, a French anthropologist, developed the "Bertillon System," also referred to as "Anthropometry," in 1879. He used anthropological techniques of anthropometry for law enforcement for the first time in order to identify criminals. Worldwide acceptance of the method for identifying people based on physical characteristics came almost immediately.

Answer any two of the following questions in about 150 words each. 5x2

i. Examination of semen and seminal stains

Ans)

Physical Examination

1. Colour: Thick, yellowish white, glairy, opalescent, secretion having a characteristic odor known as seminal odor.

2. Texture: On touch, seminal stains are starchy.

3. Appearance: Clothing sent for forensic analysis is typically stained with a variety of stains; in natural light, some stains appear reddish, while others appear brown, yellow, or faintly grey. Preliminary examination is carried out under filtered UV light because these are frequently mixed with stains of blood, vaginal discharge, urine, and semen. This is done in order to limit the investigation to seminal stains only. Seminal stains should be chosen for further examination because they fluoresce in a bluish-white colour.

Presumptive Test

Reagent in Step 1 and Step 2 Reagent can be prepared in large quantities, divided among test tubes, and frozen. One tube of each reagent can be thawed when required by running warm water.

Procedure

1. On Whatman filter paper or another appropriate test paper, place a small (2 x 2 mm) piece of the suspected seminar stain material. Utilize appropriate benchmarks and checks, such as unstained, unstained, and positive controls.

2. Add 1-2 drops of the Step 1 Reagent, and then give it 30 seconds to react. (At this point, no colour should start to appear.)

3. Drop the Step 2 Reagent one time. After ten seconds, note the outcome.

4. Rapid development of a purple colour, a sign of semen, is noted as a positive reaction. This is not a semen confirmation test.

iii. Methods of personal identification through skeletal remains.

Ans)

Animal Versus Human Bones

Any anthropological expertise requires the ability to distinguish between samples from humans and samples from other sources, but even before that, it is crucial to determine whether the material is bone or not. Many non-osseous substances, including wood, plastic, stones, and pot shelves, can occasionally be mistaken for fragments of human bone. However, this distinction between bone and other materials can be assessed through thorough morphological, molecular, and histological analysis. The taxonomic identification of the bone is also aided by these techniques.

Gross Morphology

Human bones differ significantly from those of other animals due to variations in locomotion, weight bearing capacity, and evolutionary trends. The epiphyseal line should be the first thing you look for in a bone because it is a sign of bone maturity and can help rule out smaller animal bones because they are similar to children's bones with an unfused epiphyseal plate. The density, size, and robustness of larger animal bones should then be examined. Due to their bipedal mode of locomotion, human bones tend to have gracile muscle attachments and cortical bone thickness compared to those of other large mammals.

Assignment –III

Answer the following questions in the about 250 words 10x3=30

a. Discuss the functions of saliva constituent.

Ans) The functions of saliva constituent are:

1. One of the primary components of saliva, salivary amylase acts as an amylolytic to begin the digestion of starch in the mouth and complete it in the lower GIT (Gastrointestinal tract).

2. Salivary Lipase is an enzyme that helps with fat digestion and is secreted by the gland Von Ebner.

3. Maltase: It helps turn glucose from maltose.

4. Saliva contains IgM, IgG, and IgA immunoglobulins. IgA is one of the most prevalent antibodies that works by tying to a specific bacterial antigen to slow down bacterial growth. It interferes with specific enzymes involved in bacterial metabolism and inhibits bacterial colonisation.

5. Lactoferrin: It acts as a bacteriostatic by lowering the blood's level of free iron, which is essential for metabolism.

6. Agglutinin: It has sticky properties that help to clump bacteria, which can then be easily washed away by saliva and swallowed.

7. The soluble complexes with carbonate lactate as it is bound to protein are calcium and phosphate.

8. Thiocyanate: This substance is antibacterial.

b. Define somatoscopy. Discuss somatoscopic characteristics.

Ans) Somatoscopy is the study of the position, size, and shape of various body parts. The different body parts' shapes and sizes are recognised and measured in order to identify an individual. Only through scientific observation can the various parts of the human body be described in detail, as metric analysis does not apply to things like skin colour, hair colour, and form, as well as orientation and shape of the eye, ear, nose, and other body parts.

These characteristics are known as somatoscopic characteristics, and the scientific observations used to mask an individual's identity are known as somatoscopic observations. For purposes of comparison, the common charts and models highlighting potential somatoscopic variations in individual characteristics have been created. Brown, Schultz, Topinard, Martin, Saller, Steindamm, etc.

Skin

Following comparison with established charts, the skin tone is determined. Numerous authors have categorised skin tones based on surveys, but the Luschan chart and Broca chart are the most well-known and standardised charts for skin tones. The colour of the skin should be assessed at at least 4-5 different locations on the human body because there are many variables that could affect it, including the presence of melanin, chromophores, hair and wrinkles, blood haemoglobin levels, sunlight exposure, and more.

Additionally, skin colour should be observed and compared to the standard charts during the daytime with adequate light. For determining skin tone, it is important to look at areas of the body such as the forehead, cheeks, chest, shoulders, inner side of the upper arm, palm, abdomen above the navel, inner side of the thigh, sole, etc.

Hair

In order to identify someone through their hair, a person must make visual somatoscopic observations of their colour, form, texture, and number of whorls. On different body parts, including the head, face, eyebrow ridges, beard, eyelashes, and genitalia, hair can be seen.

c. Discuss in brief examination of handwriting.

Ans) Document analysis involves looking at the handwriting on a document that is under suspicion for being forged, altered, or otherwise tampered with. This primarily includes any text with numerical or linguistic markings where it is unclear who the author is or whether the writing sample is original. According to the theory that every individual has distinctive features or characteristics at the time of writing and that, as a result, an individual's writing cannot be repeated by any other individual, analysis of handwriting is done on questioned documents.

The two types of writing examples—non-requested and requested samples—can be used for handwriting analysis. Writing samples that have been requested are used to compare to a document sample that has been questioned. Since these writing samples are only provided upon request, it is possible to control the conditions under which they are obtained. Additionally, non-requested samples of writing obtained from routine personal, or business transactions can also be used to compare to the questioned samples in addition to the requested samples.

The advantage of no requested samples is that since they are written without thinking about being compared to a questioned sample, it is impossible to try to alter or forge them when they are provided. As a result, it is more likely to be a person's handwriting. However, unlike any requested samples, these variables, such as the writing instruments used, the writing surface, and the provided text, cannot be measured.

When analysing the writing samples that have been provided in response to a questioned document, class and individual characteristics are looked at to determine whether the known writing sample and the questioned writing sample belong to the same individual.