Topic > A Bone Detective's Report: Determining the Sex, Race, and Height of the Skeleton

A week ago, a couple went out for a morning run. When they stopped for a drink, they came across what they thought was a human skull. The couple called the police and when they arrived they found two skeletons lying next to each other. We played the role of forensic anthropologists. We measured the dimensions of the skull, femur and humerus. Through these measurements we could then determine our sex, race and bone height. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssaySummary of ResultsBones contribute to a person's identity because there are subtle differences in everyone's bones. By looking at a pelvic bone, you can tell if it is male or female. Additionally, you can determine the age of the skeleton by looking to see whether some bones are still fused together or not. Bone marrow can also be extracted to give a person's exact identity. The benefits of how bones contribute to a person's identity are that students can use the pelvic bone to determine the difference between male and female. Students can also use the femur to determine male or female. The disadvantages of using bones to identify a person may be that someone's bone measurements do not always match the right sex. For example, bones of a male might be found but measurements say they belong to a female. The limitations of using bones to gain more information about a person are that if there is no pelvic bone or skull it would be more difficult to identify between male and female. We analyzed the bones by taking measurements of each bone. We measured the length and width of the femur and humerus. We also measured the nasal cavity and the eye socket of the skull. Through our measurements, we could then compare the data provided and decide whether our bones were male or female. By looking at the shape and measurements of the pelvic bone, we were able to identify the bones as belonging to a male. This is because the size of the pelvis was smaller and more heart-shaped, characteristic of a male. By looking at the eye and the eye sockets, we can deduce that the skull belongs to a male. By taking measurements of the nasal cavity, we were able to identify the skull as belonging to someone of the Caucasian race. This was concluded based on the fact that the nasal index was. 46 millimeters and other physical traits of the nose itself. Finally, we were able to determine the height of the skeleton. We did this by looking at the length and width of the femur and humerus. We could conclude that the minimum height would be 5'5'' and the maximum height would be 5'8''. We also examined the castings and determined that the age of the skeleton is between 20 and 25 years. Two missing people this skeleton could belong to are Jack Matthews or Robert Jones. This is because they are both white males. Jack Matthews is 5'5'' and 20 years old. Robert Jones is 5'4'' and 21 years old. Their age and height correspond to the age and height of our skeleton. This skeleton most likely belonged to Jin Lee. Jin Lee is a 1.70 m tall Asian woman. Everything we have determined from our skeleton does not match that of Jin Lee. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Further Analysis Facial reconstruction is a method used to identify skeletal remains. In this process, forensic anthropologists examine the average thickness of the facial soft tissues in the skull and.