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Journal of Forensic Medicine

Introduction

MEHMET YAŞAR İŞCAN

Department of Anthropology, Borİda Atlantic University, Eoca Raton, U.S.A.

For many years, seientists around the world have eombined their baekgrounds in physieal anthropology and forensies to earry out important research (l-4). This past decade has been a period of inercasing international interest and activity in the rapiclly expanding discipline of forensic anthropology and has brought numerous anthropologists and pathologists together at professional meetings (5,6). These interdiseiplinary meetings are eneouraging and enabling enhanced communication and collaboration among the participants and creare a demand for better dissemination of information such as the two speeial issues arising from the la st International Association of Forensic Seienee Meeting (7,8). At the same time, the number of works surveying forensie anthropology have increased even more (5,9,10).

In North Amcrica, forensic anthropology has rraditionally been vicwed as a sub-diseipline of physical anthropology and, by far, the majority of forensic practitioners are university or museum based and function primarily as physical anthropologists. In Europe and Asia, forensic training is commonly earried out in medical sehools and thus there is a stronger emphasis on anatomy and soft tissue pathology. Through inercasing communieation, these differenees in emphasis have served to enlarge the scope of everyonc's knowledge and expertise. This speeial issue is another example of scientific exchange among international scholars with wide ranging areas of specialization. As noted by Skinner and lşcan (6), global events have spurred both the development of forensie anthropologieal techniques and the intensifieation of eollaboration outside of aeademia. War, mass disasters, eivil disturbanees, and inercasing erime rates have increased the need for anthropologists in police, military, and insuranee matters. These evenls have required methods applicable to the population of that society where these unfortunate events are occurring. In the U.S., for example, many ostcologiealtechniques with forensic application, like the estimation of stature, age, and sex were developed during the process of identifying the remains of American war deae! (l1-14).

The scope of forensic anthropology, while focusing on skeletal hiology, oceasionally extene!s to living people. In Europc, aııthropological expenise is also

eom-Adli Tıp Derg., 6, 103 -105 (1990) Adli Tıp Dergisi 1990; 6(1-2): 102-105

104 M.Y. !ŞCAN

monly sought for serological paternity testing (15,16). The main stimuli to osteologieal research were the results of paleodemographic, human growth and skelctal

anomaly studies. Paleodemography deals with the establishment of a population profile from an archaeological burial site. This reconstruction requires teehniques to determine age, sex, and biological affinity in mixed societies. Lately however, researchers have pointed out that modern forensic work requires standards temporally applieable to the people of today and stress the importanee of ascertaining the extent of differenees traced to raee and sex then incorporating them into reliable demographic methods (17). Thcse basic assessments, when coupled with information on body eonstitution and health status yield an inercasing aceurate deseription.

Forensie anthropology also drew heavily from auxology (the assessment of patterns of growth and faetors innuencing it) for the estimation of age in young individuals. The aspects dealing with anatomie peeuliarities have likewise been vigorously pursued. It is important to determine which of these peculiarities are genctic in origin, attributable to growth or nutritional problems, or result from occupational demands. To forensic anthropologists, this knowledge of both general and individualizing features is vital to

positive identification.

tn this discipline, most books and articles isoIate two areas of emphasis in forensie

research (3,5,10,18). One is the assessment of population speeifie demographic

characteristics and the other deals with explicit individualizing traits. Books by /lunger and Leopold (1), Stewart (18), Krogman and lşcan (3), lşcan (19) and lşcan and Kennedy (20) all show the importanee of this matter. Recently however, the author (5) has stressed the importance of this emphasis and has elaborated specific suggestions for the fulure directions the field should take.

Acknowledgements

The amhor wishes to thank the contribmors to this issue. These papers were originally presented in the amhor's two and half day long symposium on skeletal biology and forensic anthropology held at the 1988 International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences Meeting in Zagreb. On behalf of the contributors, the amhor also thanks Prof.Dr. Sevil Atasoyand Prof.Dr. A. Sedat Çöloğlu for thcir encouragement to get these papers published in this issue of the Adli Tıp Dergisi.

REFERENCES

1 Hunger, H., Leopold, D. (1978) Identifikation, Johann Ambrosius Barth, Lcipzig. 2 Fazekas, LG., Kosa, F. (1978) Forensic Fetal Osteology, Academia Kiado, Budapesı.

3 Krogman, W.M., ışean, M.Y. (1986) The Human Sk.eleton in Forensic Medicine, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield.

Introduelion 105

4 Boddington, A., Garland, A.N., Janaway, RC. (1987) Death, Decay and Reconslruction: Approaches

to Archaeology and F orensic Science, Manehaster University Press, Manehaster. 5 Işean, M.Y. (1988) Yrbk. Phys. Anlhropol., 31, 203-230.

6 Skinner, M.F., Işean, M.Y. (1989) Can. Soc. Forensic Sci. 1., 22(1), 3-6.

7 Skinner, M.r., Işean, M.Y. (1989) Speeia1 Section: Forensic Anthropology, Can. Soc. Forem·ic Sci. I., 22(1), 1-68.

8 Skinner, M.F., İşean, M.Y. (1989) Special Section: Forensie Anthropology, Can. Soc. Forensic Sci. I., 22,(2), 107-195.

9 Knussmann, R. (1988) in Anthropologie, Vol i: Wesen und Methoden der Anthropologie ,

(Knussmann, R, Sehwidetzky, L, Jurgens, H.W: and Zielgelmayer, G. eds), Gustav Fiseher Verlag,

Bundesrepublik Deutsehland.

10 Seta, S., Yoshino, M. (1990) Forensic Anthropology, National Researeh Institute of Police Scicnce,

Tokyo (in Japanese), in press.

II Snow, C.E. (1948) Am. I. Phys. Anlhropol., 6, 323-328.

12 MeKem, T.W., Stewart, T.D. (1957) Skeletal Age Changes in Young American Males, Analysed

From the Slandpoinl of Age ldenıificaıion, Environ. Proteetion Res. Div. Teeh. Rep. No. EP-45.

Quanermaster Res. and Dev. Center, U.S. Army, Natiek, MA.

13 Stewart, T.D. (ed) (1970) Personalldenlificaıion in Mass Disaslers, National Museum of Natural

II istoıy, Washington, D.C.

14 Troncr, M. (1970) in Personalldenıificaıion in Mass Disasıers, (Stewart, T.D., ed) pp.71 -84, National

Museum of Natural IIistoıy, Washington, D.C.

15 Schwidetzky, L (1984) Collegium Anıropol., 8, 253-255.

16 Kosa, F, Csete, K. (1989) Morphologiai es 19. Orv. Szemle, 29,61-66.

17 Işean, M.Y., Loth, S.R. (1989) in Reconslruction of Life from the Skeleıon, (Işean, M.Y., Kennedy,

K.A.R., eds) pp. 23-40, Alan R. Liss, New York.

18 Stcwart, T.D. (1979) Essenıials of Forensic Anthropology: Especia/ly as Developed in ıhe United Slates, Charles C. 'Thomas, Springfield.

19 Işean, M.Y. (1989) Age Markers in ıhe Iluman Skeleıon, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield.

20 İşean, M.Y., Kennedy, K.A.R. (eds) (1989) Reconsıruction of Life from the Skeleıon, Alan R. Liss,

Kew York.

Reprints request to:

ProLDr. Mehmet Yaşarİşcan

Department of Anthropology

Horida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991, USA