Negahnaz Moghaddam

• PD Dr
• Forensic Anthropologist at Netherlands Forensic Institute

Forensic anthropology and taphonomy in Switzerland offer unique challenges and opportunities due to the country”s diverse topography, climates, and socio-political structures. This study explores current practices, casework, and the evolving role of these disciplines within the Swiss forensic framework. Key challenges include the recovery and ident...

English: This research is the first of its kind to assess the impact of respiratory illnesses and airborne diseases (acro-nymized as “RIAD” hereafter) on Swiss mortality in the long run, between the 16th and the 21st century CE. It reviewshistorical, demographical, statistical, medical, and bioarchaeological, primary and secondary data originating...

Forensic Archaeology is the application of archaeological theory, methods and techniques to assist in criminal investigations and legal matters. Forensic Archaeology is strongly interdisciplinary, with multiple fields playing a role in recording and collecting evidence to help solve crimes and seek justice. The field has developed as a robust subdi...

In 2017, close to 7% of the world population was affected by a form of RIAD; ranking them among the 3 leading causes of death worldwide (alongside cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms). This figure is on the rise according to recent studies, with substantial variations in regional and age-sex specific subgroups. To apprehend the local dynamics und...

Air crashes or explosions with numerous victims may result in thousands of fragmented human remains that present a massive challenge for disaster victim identification teams. Genetic identification may present important financial and technical limits, and the physical re-association of fractured bones by forensic anthropologists may require a time-...

Forensic anthropology (FA) as a specialized discipline has been practised in multi-lingual Switzerland for over a decade. A variety of expertise regarding osteological assessments as well as facial image comparison (FIC) is provided by different centres. Nevertheless, information is lacking about the awareness of FA and its benefits for forensic in...

Located at two University Hospitals, the University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva (CURML) disposes worldwide recognition. Employing approximately 260 individuals, it actively engages in teaching and participates in interdisciplinary research projects in collaboration with international partners. Owing to its highly interdisciplinary natu...

Located at two University Hospitals, the University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva (CURML) disposes worldwide recognition. Employing approximately 260 individuals, it actively engages in teaching and participates in interdisciplinary research projects in collaboration with international partners. Owing to its highly interdisciplinary natu...

One of the many challenging cases that forensic pathologists, anthropologists, and forensic imaging experts have to face are burnt human remains. Perpetrators frequently attempt to hide/destroy evidence and make the body unidentifiable by exposing it to fire. We present a case of a partially burnt body found in an apartment after an explosion. Firs...

Over the last decades, human taphonomy became an important research field within the study of funeral practices and burials of the past. For a better understanding of mortuary practices in history and prehistory, in-depth knowledge of the natural processes of cadaver decomposition is indispensable. There are various external factors, such as enviro...

Forensic anthropology is the application of the methods of physical anthropology to legal investigations. This includes e.g. the differentiation of human and animal bones, providing information on the minimum number of individuals, the analyses of the biological profile of unidentified human remains, and the determination of the mechanism that affe...

During a Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) mission, international protocols rely on interdisciplinary work, especially between specialists from forensic imaging and anthropology. In case of air crashes or explosions, DVI units may face thousands of fragmented human remains (FHRs). The physical re-association of FHRs and the identification proce...

Sex estimation from skeletal remains is crucial for the estimation of the biological profile of an individual. Although the most commonly used bones for means of sex estimation are the pelvis and the skull, research has shown that acceptable accuracy rates might be achieved by using other skeletal elements such as vertebrae. This study aims to cont...

Radiation exposure is a crucial factor to consider in forensic age estimation. The various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities used in forensic age estimation avoid radiation exposure. This study examined the reliability of distal radius ossification using fast spin-echo proton density (FSE PD)–weighted MRI to estimate age. Left wrist MRI f...

Since forensic age estimation is not a valid medical indication, research on the use of nonionizing methods is increasing. Ultrasonography is a radiological approach that protects patients from radiation exposure and offers special convenience to them. In this study, ultrasonography was used for age estimation by investigating the degree of ossific...

Sex estimation is considered one of the first steps in the forensic identification process. Morphological and morphometrical differences between males and females have been used as means for morphoscopic and metric methods on both cranial and postcranial skeletal elements. When dry skeletal elements are not available, virtual data can be used as a...

The creation of virtual 3D-models of objects of forensic interest and the use of 3D printing gained more and more importance in the forensic field during the last years. Comparing radiological imaging techniques, such as CT technology, with surface scan technology for anthropological studies is a field of research in which we are also actively work...

The evaluation of epiphyseal areas by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for forensic age estimation is an important supportive diagnostic method to prevent repeated radiation exposure without a valid medical reason. There are still not enough individuals being analyzed with MRI for age estimation. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility...

Virtual anthropology (VA) is based on applying anthropological methods currently used to analyse bones to 3D models of human remains. While great advances have been made in this endeavour in the past decade, several interrogations concerning how reliable these models are and what their proper use should be remain unanswered. In this research, a fun...

Morphometric analysis of the clavicle is a potential source of useful data for the estimation of sex. Clavicle is often retrieved intact from decomposed and scavenged remains when pelvis and skull, essential sex indicators, are often found damaged or missing. The objective of this study is to analyse clavicle morphometric data for sex estimation in...

In Early Middle Ages (sixth–eleventh centuries AD), South Tyrol (Italian Alps) played a key role for geographical and military reasons. Historical sources document that allochthonous groups (germani) entered the territory, and the material culture shows mutual cultural exchanges between autochthonous and germani. Besides the nature of the migration...

Cases of historic and prehistoric “crimes scenes” are known from various context including findings of (pre)historic (mass) graves and lethal violent acts related to warfare, ritual killings, or possible murder cases. In order to get to the bottom of the possible archaeological crime scenes, contemporary interdisciplinary approaches allow us to ext...

Objectives Stable isotope analysis has often been used in neonatal remains from archeological contexts to investigate the presence of a signal of breastfeeding and weaning in past populations. Tooth histology on the other hand might be used as an indicator of birth survival. This pilot study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using stable nitr...

In Switzerland, a large number of Iron Age burial sites were found in the last century. Changes in living conditions and socio-cultural behavior may have occurred over time and space and could be reflected in the dietary habits, social stratigraphy within populations and migration patterns. This study attempts to shed light on these aspects with th...

Jörg Jenatsch, a leading freedom fighter during the Thirty Year's War in Graubünden, Switzerland, was assassinated on carnival 1639. Jenatsch's controversial biography and the unclear circumstances of his death inspired the formation of various legends, novels and films. In 1959, a skeleton discovered in the cathedral of Chur with remains of wealth...

Scattered human and animal bones, weapons, knives, jewellery, coins, leather fragments and fabrics were found at the Upper Theodul glacier (Switzerland) between 1984 and the early 1990s. The finds are assumed to represent a single fatal event. Until recently, the remains were interpreted as those of a mercenary. All objects and fabrics were restore...

Early cranial surgery from Late Iron Age Switzerland

An interdisciplinary project applying stable isotope analysis and tooth histology

Trepanation is defined as the intentional perforation of the cranial vault with removal of a piece of skull bone. In Europe, trepanation is known to have been practiced at least since the Neolithic, and it can still be found today in East African native tribes. Two skulls with lesions from the Late Iron Age site Münsingen-Rain (420-240 BC) were inv...

Im Jahr 2009 wurden in Ipsach, Räberain, fünf Gräber aus der frühen und mittleren Latènezeit entdeckt. Es handelt sich um drei Kindergräber, ein Grab einer wahrscheinlich weiblichen Jugendlichen und eine Bestattung einer erwachsenen Frau. Alle fünf Individuen waren in gestreckter Rückenlage bestattet, die Frau und die Jugendliche lagen ausserdem in...

The Iron Age cemetery of Münsingen in Switzerland with 220 abundantly equipped burials marked a milestone for Iron Age research. The horizontal spread throughout the time of its occupancy laid the foundation for the chronology system of the Late Iron Age. Today, skulls of 77 individuals and some postcranial bones are still preserved. The aim of the...

The gladiator cemetery discovered in Ephesus (Turkey) in 1993 dates to the 2nd and 3rd century AD. The aim of this study is to reconstruct diverse diet, social stratification, and migration of the inhabitants of Roman Ephesus and the distinct group of gladiators. Stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis were applied, and inorganic bone...

In this study we present the analysis of the human remains from tomb K93.12 in the Ancient Egyptian necropolis of Dra' Abu el-Naga, located opposite the modern city of Luxor in Upper Egypt on the western bank of the Nile. Archaeological findings indicate that the rock tomb was originally built in the early 18th dynasty. Remains of two tomb-temples...

The single Hochdorf burial was found in 1887 during construction work in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. It dates from between 320 and 250 BC. The calvarium, the left half of the pelvis and the left femur were preserved. The finding shows an unusual bony alteration of the skull. The aim of this study was to obtain a differential diagnosis and t...

Skeletal remains of 37 individuals from several graveyards in Ephesus, Roman capital of the province Asia, were investigated. Basic osteology and stable isotope analysis provide new information about the 2nd and 3rd century AD living conditions of this ancient megacity’s citizens. Bone collagen was extracted and stable isotope ratios of carbon, nit...

The famous La Tène burial site of Münsingen Rain in Switzerland was discovered in 1904. The individuals were dated by horizontal stratigraphy to 420 - 240 BC. One of the 77 individuals showed an alteration of the bone, so the skull, the left humerus with scapula and the right femur were retained. The aim of this study was to reconsider a different...

Frühbronzezeitliche Doppelbestattung