Forensic Anthropology Research Paper

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Abigail Bahorich ASB 353 September 28, 2015 Museum Essay Forensic Anthropology plays an important role in understanding the deceased in a legal and historical perspective. Today, forensic anthropologists’ jobs are to “aid in the detection of crime” by using “standard scientific techniques developed in physical anthropology”. (ABFA, 2008) They are one of the most important factors that assist in understanding crime scenes. Forensic anthropologists, as depicted by the Smithsonian Written in Bone exhibit, they use their knowledge to unlock clues that are hidden within the deceased. Forensic anthropologists allow the human body to guide them into the life of a person who may have lived a hundred years ago or even just yesterday. By digging up…show more content…
Europeans were making their way into the New World, and then specifically settling into the Chesapeake, in large numbers by May 1607. These settlers ended up creating and inhabiting the island of Jamestown. Jamestown was actually considered a fort, where they completely surrounded themselves with walls to keep the Native Americans out. Little did they know they would be facing harder struggles than they could have anticipated. We know this, because in 1994 a team of researchers came through the location where the fort once stood and started their excavations. The exhibit illustrates to us that the settlers were being wiped out quickly by disease and reasons related to the inhospitable land they settled upon. “After less than a year, only thirty-eight of the original one-hundred and four settlers were still alive.” (Written in Bone, 2015) Because of excavation in 1994, we were able to learn much more about the first people to settle in the Americas. Using the skills of forensic anthropologists, they were able to identify what was considered “important people” in the Jamestown…show more content…
“As European nation-states and their judicial systems developed, physicians and surgeons participated more frequently in legal proceedings.”(Visible Proofs, 2006) The Visible Proof exhibit gave a wide range of information on the beginning of forensic medicine and anthropology. In the Visible Proof exhibit I learned quite a bit about the history of forensic medicine and during the beginning there were not distinguished disciplines but by the 1800s they became divided into many distinct disciplines. “Today, forensics includes many disciplines, with dozens of specialties and subspecialties drawing on expanding scientific knowledge and technological expertise.” (Visible Proofs, 2006) By the 19th century, the medicinal and legal society became more concerned about the details forensics played in the deaths of people. During this time in American history, I learned that mortality statistics were becoming increasingly important so it was essential to use complex methods of forensics to describe
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