Forensic and public-health anthropology

The essentials

Forensic anthropology applies knowledge of human biology, especially the skeleton, to legal cases such as identifying unknown remains, victims of disasters or crimes. Public-health (medical) anthropology studies how culture shapes health, illness and healing, and helps make health programmes acceptable to communities.

Key points

• Sex from the skeleton: the pelvis is the most reliable indicator. Females have a wider, shallower pelvis, a wider subpubic angle (greater than 90°) and a broader greater sciatic notch, adapted for childbirth. The skull helps too: males usually have larger brow ridges, mastoid processes and a more robust jaw.
• Age: in children, stages of tooth eruption and fusion of bone ends (epiphyseal union); in adults, closure of skull sutures and changes in the pubic symphysis.
• Stature can be estimated from the length of long bones, especially the femur, using regression formulae.
• Blood groups can exclude a suspect or a claimed parent but cannot alone prove identity; DNA profiling is far more precise.
• Fingerprints (dermatoglyphics): ridge patterns are unique to each individual (even identical twins differ) and remain unchanged throughout life. The three basic patterns are loops (most common), whorls and arches (least common). Fingerprint classification was developed in British India with the work of Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose under Edward Henry.
• Public health: people may explain illness through spirits, sin or imbalance; anthropologists help design culturally sensitive health messages, involve traditional healers and midwives, and study nutrition, sanitation and disease patterns. Community health workers such as ASHAs act as a bridge between health systems and communities.

Exam tips

• Pelvis for sex, teeth and epiphyses for age in young people, femur for stature.
• Loop is the commonest fingerprint pattern.

Common mistakes

• Thinking blood groups can prove paternity; they can only exclude.