Forensic Anthropology - History

History

Forensic anthropology, a sub-field of applied anthropology and physical anthropology, uses a cross-disciplinary approach to identify an individual’s identity, time since death, cause of death, and the manner of death. The discipline has achieved wide recognition in North America and, like other disciplines, it has its own code of ethics for practices among others outlined in the field of anthropology. Forensic anthropology progressed from a peripheral activity to a formally recognized discipline in the early 1970s. Both Canada and the United States have many dedicated professionals in each state, province and territory who work in the field of forensic anthropology; this includes the chief coroner or the chief medical examiner. As part of identifying the individual’s identity the following may be analyzed: age, stature, ancestry, and sex. To evaluate the time since death and the cause of death, many people from the various professional areas in the forensic field may step in; these fields include: pathology, toxicology, chemistry, biology, odontology, entomology, and psychiatry among others. All the professionals in each forensic field are a crucial part of the process of identifying the individuals’ identities.

Even though the discipline of forensic anthropology officially began in the early 1970s, the first forensic paper to be recognized was written by Thomas Dwight. The prize-winning essay titled "The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medicolegal Study" was a success in 1878. This successful paper was followed by a successful court case using forensic studies in 1897. Adolph Luetgert was a prosperous sausage manufacturer whose business was beginning to fail. Luetgert claimed that his wife had run off with another man, but a search of his factory led to a foul smell at the bottom of a large vat. There, two of his wife’s rings, a corset stay, and several small bones were found; thus Luetgert was accused of killing his wife. George Dorsey was the first expert forensic analyst to receive a doctoral degree in anthropology by Harvard. He was assigned to the Luetgert case and revealed his findings to the court. Among the bones, rings, and corset stay were other pieces of evidence that made the case a win for Dorsey. This case acquired national recognition and for months, the sale of sausages had fallen as it was rumored that pieces of Luetgert’s wife was mixed in with the product.

Canada has ten provinces and three territories where there are professional death investigators who often have police experience. Most of these provinces and territories have a coroner system where coroners need not be medically trained, except in Ontario. In Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, a Medical Examiner system requiring medically qualified investigators to practice as forensic pathologists is employed. Mark Skinner of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia has provided forensic anthropology service to the Office of the Chief Coroner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and municipal police in the Fraser Region since 1976. Skinner states that the charges for court testimony is usually paid at legal rates by the representative counsel. As a result, services provided by forensic anthropologists in British Columbia, at the least, are not yet representative of the governmental agencies such as the Office of the Chief Coroner.

Forensic anthropology is still a growing field in Canada and still lacks uniformity in practice. In 1989, a review found that forensic anthropology as a profession was marginalized since scholars in the field were university based without any connections to the police or coroners/medical examiners. Graduate thesis research with a forensic focus began to emerge in the late 1980s and gradually became a more acceptable specialization within biological anthropology. The review article "Taking the Pulse of Forensic Anthropology in Canada" states that “By 2006, it was clear that forensic anthropology and its specializations had grown a great deal in terms of training and practice; however, forensic anthropology remained university-based with few anthropologically trained individuals placed in death investigative agencies or in hospital settings. The lack of standardized training across Canada remained clearly evident”.