Types of Identification
There are two types of identification in forensic anthropology: circumstantial and positive.
- Circumstantial identification is established when an individual fits the biological profile of a set of skeletal remains. This type of identification does not prove or verify identity because any number of individuals may fit the same biological description.
- Positive identification, one of the foremost goals of forensic science, is established when a unique set of biological characteristics of an individual are matched with a set of skeletal remains. This type of identification requires the skeletal remains to correspond with medical or dental records, unique ante mortem wounds or pathologies, DNA analysis, and still other means.
Facial reconstruction presents investigators and family members involved in criminal cases concerning unidentified remains with a unique alternative when all other identification techniques have failed. Facial approximations often provide the stimuli that eventually lead to the positive identification of remains.
Read more about this topic: Forensic Facial Reconstruction
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—Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)
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