The Biological Profile of Unidentified Human Remains in a Forensic Context

Abstract

Estimation of the biological profile of unidentified human remains is a critical component of an anthropologic evaluation of unidentified human remains. The profile is used to search for missing persons that may match the decedent. The individual components of sex, ancestry, stature, and age at death require reliable methods to ensure accurate recording of these biological markers. This article showcases an unidentified skeleton that was misclassified as a female when the original evaluation was done in 1963. The revaluation in 2004 quickly led to resolution of the identity. Methods used today to evaluate the components of the biological profile are reviewed along with a limited review of the historic literature.

Radiographic analysis of dental maturation in children with amelogenesis imperfecta: A case‐control study

“…In practice, it enables more reliable treatment plans in orthodontics, orthopedics, and pediatrics 19,20 . In forensic dentistry, dental age estimation contributes to establishing biological profiles of deceased victims 6–10 – for human identification cases, and enables expertise based on age for civil purposes, such as in case of adoption and asylum seekers 11–15 . Most of the studies in the field sampled subjects with no systemic or genetic alterations 11,16,18 .…”

“…In the former, it figures as a forensic tool within human identification and anthropology 3–5 . Together with sex, stature, and ancestry, age builds up a biological profile of the deceased 6–10 . In the living, it also contributes to human identification in the forensic field, especially when it comes to asylum seekers 11–15 and alleged minor offenders 16–18 .…”

Evolution of Forensic Anthropological Methods of Identification

“…This article focuses on the core contribution of the forensic anthropologist to identification: the direct comparison of antemortem radiographs attributable to suspected deceased persons to postmortem radiographic images collected from the deceasent by the medicolegal agency. The anthropologist also impacts the identification process via the extraction of biological indicators of age, sex, ancestry, and stature from unidentified human remains that allow for the development of a biological profile that limits the number of people to whom a decedent bears resemblance (13). Facial approximation and superimposition are methods employed by some anthropologists that are generally useful as tools for eliminating identification candidates or for narrowing candidate pools rather than for identification.…”

Conservación de restos óseos prehispánicos en el Eje Cafetero, Colombia

“…Los análisis bioarqueológicos permiten reconstruir las osteobiografías de personas que murieron en el pasado apoyándose en evidencias materiales para interpretar las complejas interacciones entre lo cultural y lo biológico (Buikstra, 1977;Larsen, 2002;Schutkowski, 2008). Para ello se utilizan diversos métodos y técnicas estandarizadas que permiten la reconstrucción del perfil biológico, es decir, características como la edad de muerte, el sexo, la ancestralidad, la estatura y rasgos individuales (Austin y King, 2016).…”