Dawnie Steadman

University of Tennessee | UTK

A postmortem root band (PMRB) is an opaque microscopic band that can be observed near the root area of hairs from a decomposing body. Although PMRB is a recognized phenomenon in the forensic trace evidence commu- nity, protein signatures that are associated with PMRB formation are not well understood. To characterize the specific hair proteins affe...

African Americans comprise approximately 13% of the U.S. population, 26% of the missing-persons universe, and 51% of homicide victims (Kochanek et al. 2019; NCIC 2018; U.S. Census 2010). However, African-American remains are underrepresented in the documented skeletal samples resulting from body donations to U.S. taphonomic research facilities. If...

A postmortem root band (PMRB) is defined as “an opaque ellipsoidal band composed of a collection of parallel elongated air/gas spaces and is approximately 0.5 mm above the root bulb and about 2 mm below the skin surface” [1]. It is generally accepted that it can appear in the root of hairs attached to remains during decomposition [1]. This study ai...

Skeletal sexual dimorphism manifests as size or shape differences between males and females in a population. Certain dimorphic traits are used in sex estimation methods, and populational variation in the expression of these traits can result in inaccurate sex estimation. However, the underlying causes of variation in trait expression remain unclear...

Different animal species have been used as proxies for human remains in decomposition studies for decades, although few studies have sought to validate their use in research aimed at estimating the postmortem interval. This study examines 45 pig, rabbit, and human subjects placed in three seasonal trials at the Anthropology Research Facility. In an...

While nonhuman animal remains are often utilized in forensic research to develop methods to estimate the postmortem interval, systematic studies that directly validate animals as proxies for human decomposition are lacking. The current project compared decomposition rates among pigs, rabbits, and humans at the University of Tennessee's Anthropology...

Understanding human decomposition is critical for its use in postmortem interval (PMI) estimation, having a significant impact on forensic investigations. In recognition of the need to stablish the scientific basis for PMI estimation, several studies on decomposition have been carried out in the last years. The aims of the present study were: (i) t...

Oral cavity harbors one of the most diverse microbiomes in the human body. It has been shown to be the second most complex in the body after the gastro- intestinal tract. Upon death, the indigenous microorganisms lead the decomposition of the carcass. Therefore, oral cavity and gastro-intestinal tract microbiomes, play a key role in human decomposi...

This chapter highlights past and current research in human decomposition and taphonomy, including its contribution to innovative studies between decomposition facilities, university departments and government agencies. It begins with the history of the Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) and an overview of all the interlocking operations that are...

The application of Bayesian models to suites of radiocarbon dates can provide important refinements over standard approaches toward calibration and seriation of dated feature contexts. We have modeled a number of older radiocarbon dates submitted in the 1980s along with a recent set of accelerator mass spectrometry dates from the Aver- buch site (4...

The commingling of human remains is a common problem in mass fatality incidents. The nature of the incident may result in extensive fragmentation and aggregation of bodies in a limited space, such as building collapses or structural fires, or dispersal of body parts across a large area, as in explosions or transportation accidents. Water from fire...

A growing number of studies related to human remains in Korea highlight the need for developing professional ethics codes and laws that govern disposition and treatment of human remains. In order to provide models for developing ethics codes and regulations relevant to the field of biological anthropology in Korea, the current paper presents a revi...

Visual representations of the bodily consequences of conflict in southeastern North America have been critical for archaeological research on warfare. Yet Susan Sontag's notion of an ethics of seeing warfare underscores concerns over the use of images of conflict. We contrast anxieties surrounding the modern recording of violent encounters in the p...

Introduction The history of forensic anthropology Forensic anthropological practice Current challenges and research in forensic anthropology International perspectives on forensic anthropology Future goals in forensic anthropology Acknowledgements References Further reading

What sets bioarchaeology apart from traditional osteological analysis is that it is focused on context. Chapter authors Heather Worne, Charles R. Cobb, Giovanna Vidoli, and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman use the focus on context to explore the ways that violent encounters come to affect how societies organize themselves spatially. Though there are optimal g...

Most current methods for adult skeletal age-at-death estimation are based on American samples comprising individuals of European and African ancestry. Our limited understanding of population variability hampers our efforts to apply these techniques to various skeletal populations around the world, especially in global forensic contexts. Further, do...

Identified human skeletal collections are those in which basic demographic data (sex, age and biological origin) are known and are crucial for developing and testing osteological methodologies. It is important that the identified collection be contextualised, and in this way the collection will be considered a reference collection. To contextualise...

Forensic anthropologists routinely macerate human bone for the purposes of identity and trauma analysis, but the heat and chemical treatments used can destroy genetic evidence. As a follow-up to a previous study on nuclear DNA recovery that used pig ribs, this study utilizes human skeletal remains treated with various bone maceration techniques for...

Forensic anthropology typically uses osteological and/or dental data either to estimate characteristics of unidentified individuals or to serve as evidence in cases where there is a putative identification. In the estimation context, the problem is to describe aspects of an individual that may lead to their eventual identification, whereas in the e...

For the past eight years Spanish scientists have collaborated with Spanish social and political organizations in an effort to incorporate empirical evidence from unmarked graves into the recovery of historical memory of the Spanish Civil War. Some teams have requested the assistance of experienced professionals from other countries for training and...

Skeletal evidence of nonritual interpersonal trauma in the central Illinois valley is currently limited to the terminal prehistoric period in the region. Sixteen percent of the entire Norris Farms Oneota skeletal sample died violently, presumably because they intruded upon small groups of Mississippians who had not yet abandoned the region. Archaeo...

On February 15, 2002, a woman was walking her dog in the woods of the small, unincorporated town of Noble in Walker County, Georgia, and discovered a human skull. She called the authorities, who confirmed the skull was human and launched a pedestrian survey of the area. Unfortunately, the skull was just a portent of the macabre scenes awaiting inve...

The recovery of historic memory of the Spanish Civil War is a multilayered initiative to escape both the romanticism of the Franco era, in which only the glory of the victors was celebrated while their past atrocities were ignored, and the cautiousness of the post-Franco democracy, for which forced amnesia of the Civil War was considered a sacrific...

For the past eight years Spanish scientists have collaborated with Spanish social and political organiza-tions in an effort to incorporate empirical evidence from unmarked graves into the recovery of historical memory of the Spanish Civil War. Some teams have requested the assistance of experienced professionals from other countries for training an...

This case study documents the nearly complete consumption of adult human remains by two domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) inside a residence. While scavenging behavior has been observed for coyotes, wolves, hyenas and other canines in natural outdoor environments, little information is available concerning canine scavenging of human remains in an in...

Forensic scientists are often expected to present the likelihood of DNA identifications in US courts based on comparative population data, yet forensic anthropologists tend not to quantify the strength of an osteological identification. Because forensic anthropologists are trained first and foremost as physical anthropologists, they emphasize estim...

Forensic anthropologists use a number of maceration techniques to facilitate skeletal analysis of personal identity and trauma, but they may unwittingly eliminate valuable DNA evidence in the process. This study evaluated the effect of 10 maceration methods on gross bone structure and the preservation of DNA in ribs of 12 pigs (Sus scrofa). A scori...

This paper examines the participation of anthropologists in international human rights investigations between 1990 and 1999 by surveying four of the most active organizations, including the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, Physicians for Human Rights and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal...

Population genetic and biological distance studies of Late Woodland and Mississippian populations from west-central Illinois have provided insight into a number of prehistoric demographic processes at the regional level. However, a formal analysis of diachronic interregional gene flow has not been attempted within a population genetics framework. I...

Bioarcheology of the South Central United States. Edited by Jerome C. Rose. Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series No. 55. 1999. 297 pp. ISBN 1-56349-086-2. $30.00 (paper).

A new population genetics method is applied to discriminate between processes of extraregional gene flow and intraregional biological continuity within and among three temporally sequential prehistoric Native American cultures in the central Illinois valley. Within a population genetics framework, the impact of regional and interregional cultural c...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Anthropology, August 1997. Includes bibliographical references.