Nicholas Marquez-Grant

• Cranfield University

Background Forensic anthropology has evolved significantly, from its foundations in the nineteenth century to its formal establishment in the twentieth century and in particular with modern advancements from the 1970s onward. Its role in human rights investigations during the 1980s in Latin America and the 1990s in the Balkans, exemplifies its glob...

This study investigates a fixed dental bridge and explores the medical management of oral disease in 18th and 19th century Portugal. The bridge, alongside the remains of an adult individual of indeterminate sex, was exhumed from a burial site in Porto, Portugal, which was in use between 1801 and 1869. Although the skeletal remains were well preserv...

Assessing the timing of skeletal trauma significantly impacts the reconstruction of events surrounding death and deposition in forensic cases. However, there are no absolute time frames in which the characteristics of wet bone (peri-mortem) fractures transition to dry (post-mortem) fractures. The aim of this study was to attempt to identify a point...

Major complications in the palaeopathological analysis of burnt human remains include distinguishing whether bone was fresh or dry at the time of burning, and whether trauma/damage was inflicted ‘perimortem’ or postmortem. Some prehistoric societies are suggested to have defleshed human remains prior to cremation, mostly classified based on the lac...

The Francoist repression in Ibiza is primarily known through oral testimony. Those deaths did not result in court proceedings, nor were they published in the local press and neither were they registered in the cemetery records of Ses Figueretes where the bodies of those executed were buried. Since the year 2014 in the Balearic Islands there have be...

Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) can be applied to solve inverse problems such as the post-mortem interval (PMI) by a simple and logical graphical representation of conditional dependencies between multiple taphonomic variables and the observable decomposition effect. This study is the first cross-comparison retrospective study of human decompositio...

DNA identification of human remains has a valuable role in the field of forensics and wider. Although DNA is vital in identification of unknown human remains, post-mortem environmental factors can lead to poor molecular preservation. In this respect, focus has been placed on DNA extraction methodologies for hard tissue samples, as these are the lon...

This study investigates how environmental variables, such as temperature and rainfall, affect previously induced cut marks on burnt bones. This research used non-serrated and serrated blade knives to inflict trauma on Sus scrofa ribs (n = 240). The bones were later burnt and left for 1 month in a taphonomic experimental facility. Qualitative and qu...

The need to forensically search soil for small artefacts at a burial site or traces of evidence in a deposition site is a common task shared by investigators and forensic archaeologists. In forensic casework, the importance of finding small pieces of evidence, such as personal effects or ballistic fragments, cannot be overstated as it can assist in...

The identification of a reliable and accurate post-mortem interval (PMI) is a major challenge in the field of forensic sciences and criminal investigation. Several laboratory techniques have recently been developed that offer a better contribution to the estimation of PMI, in addition to the traditional physical or physico-chemical (body cooling, l...

The excavation, analysis, curation, and restitution of archaeological human remains are associated with ethical challenges that those working within archaeology and heritage management should be aware of. However, the way ethical issues are acknowledged in scientific publications continues to be overlooked. This paper explores evidence for authors...

This study provides an overview of victim and offender data, the cause and manner of death, the dismemberment type, the post-dismemberment alteration, and the forensic investigation, for 35 Spanish forensic cases. The main aim of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of dismemberment and body part alteration in Spain since 1990, in par...

Forensic anthropologists rely on a number of parameters when analyzing human skeletal remains to assist in the identification of the deceased, predominantly age-at-death, sex, stature, ancestry or population affinity, and any unique identifying features. During the examination of human remains, it is important to be aware that the skeletal features...

El hallazgo de fosas clandestinas se ha convertido en un hecho recurrente durante los últimos diez años en México, estimándose que podrían existir más de 2000 repartidas por todo el país (Guillen et al. 2018). Menos conocidas, reportadas y atendidas son las fosas comunes, localizadas en panteones municipales o estatales, que albergan cuerpos de per...

The discovery of clandestine graves has become a recurrent event during the last ten years in Mexico, and there could be more than roughly 2000 distributed all over the country (Guillen et al. 2018). Mass graves specifically are less well-known, reported, and addressed; they are located in municipal or state cemeteries which house unidentified bodi...

Postmortem chemical transformation of bone bioapatite can take place during early diagenesis resulting in a more thermodynamically stable mineral phase. This paper examines the impact of a 1-year postmortem interval on unburnt and burnt bone’s structural and chemical alterations. This question is of importance for the reconstruction of funerary pra...

Post-mortem interval (PMI) information sources may be subject to varying degrees of reliability that could impact the level of confidence associated with PMI estimations in forensic taphonomy research and in the practice of medico-legal death investigation. This study aimed to assess the reliability of PMI information sources in a retrospective com...

This experimental study provides a further understanding of the post-burning nature of sharp force trauma. The main objective is to analyse the distortion that fire may inflict on the length, width, roughness, and floor shape morphology of toolmarks induced by four different implements. To this end, four fresh juvenile pig long bones were cut with...

Detailed information on skeletal trauma analysis of burned bone is important to ascertain the manner and cause of death in forensic casework. This research used three different knife types, one with a non-serrated blade, one a fine-serrated blade, and one a coarse-serrated blade, to inflict trauma to manually macerated Sus scrofa ribs (n = 240), an...

En época andalusí, la Vall d’Uixó (Castellón, España) se conformaba por una serie de alquerías que estuvieron habitadas por población islámica hasta el s. XVI. A través del análisis antropológico de 99 esqueletos procedentes de dos de estas alquerías, Benizahat y Zeneta, el presente estudio explora la posible existencia de diferencias en el estilo...

Forensic experts rely on scene and/or autopsy photographs to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI) when an in-situ assessment of decomposition is unfeasible. The degree of decomposition may vary between the scene and autopsy, which importantly could affect estimations of the unknown PMI in forensic casework. This study aimed to investigate decomp...

El fuego como agente tafonómico complica el examen antropológico y el análisis e interpretación de evidencias de traumatismo para asistir en la determinación de la causa y manera de la muerte. Es imprescindible ampliar y mejorar estudios previos para resolver discrepancias y aplicar metodología no destructiva que permita la repetición y validación...

Although the investigation of human rights cases often comes late, especially with regard to living relatives, the current investigations searching for victims of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the Francoist regime that followed until the 1970s also comes now with better methods of search and identification, which would not have been availab...

This paper can be found in: https://rdcu.be/b9E7L During a homicide investigation in which fire has been used to reduce the size of the cadaver and conceal the evidence of injuries, the identification of perimortem trauma presents a challenge, in particular in cases when the perpetrator has dismembered the body followed by burning the remains. It...

Objectives Recent histotaphonomic studies have focused on the presence of features thought to be caused either by bacteria (microscopic focal destruction/MFD and cyanobacterial tunnelling) or fungal (Wedl tunnelling types 1 and 2) attack on unburnt bone. Identifying these characteristics on burnt bones could indicate the state of decomposition befo...

Objective To evaluate lesions on a cranium from the Iberian Peninsula and assess its medico-historical and paleopathological significance. Materials The skeletal remains of a juvenile individual found in a Medieval Islamic grave (10th -16th century) in Eastern Spain. Methods Macroscopic examination of the left and right temporal bones, binocular...

Distinguishing trauma from heat-induced fractures is a challenge faced by forensic anthropologists and pathologists during medicolegal investigations in which fire has been used by the perpetrators to destroy evidence. This paper aims to validate the provided identification features to distinguish between fire induced alterations and sharp force tr...

Conflict casualties refer to those individuals who are lost due to military conflict or war. The involvement of forensic archaeologists and anthropologists in the legal search, recovery, documentation, identification, and repatriation/reburial of conflict casualties is well known. Internationally, there are a number of professional organisations wh...

In the context of exhumations of individuals who died during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), since the year 2000, over 780 mass graves have been excavated using archaeological methodology and following forensic protocols. Most of the recovered more than 9600 bodies have tended to be from the Republican civil population, the majority having been...

Dental age estimation in living individuals is one of the most frequent requests undertaken by forensic odontologists. The aim of this study was to estimate the dental age by pulp/tooth volume ratio, as measured on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images, in a Spanish population. This study included 313 teeth from 107 adult individuals, 56 fema...

El presente trabajo ofrece una síntesis de los conocimientos arqueológicos e históricos sobre el poblamiento andalusí mediante un inventario de hallazgos funerarios en Cataluña, con la provincia de Castellón como referente de comparación. Se presentan nuevos datos relativos a hallazgos aún inéditos de los yacimientos de Plà de Almatà (Balaguer) y l...

Fire is a highly destructive agent which burns the skin, shrinks tissue, destroys internal organs and dehydrates, warps and fragments the skeletal remains. Therefore, the aim of this project is to study the effects fire has on a cadaver regarding: Heat induced changes, Pre cremation trauma and Survival of anatomical regions

Microenvironments play a significant part in understanding the post-mortem interval in forensic taphonomy. Recently, the value of weathering factors in relation to obtaining a PMI has been investigated further. In this study, observations were made to calculate the length of time it takes for three different bone elements (femur, rib, and scapula)...

This study investigated the effect of seasonal variables on decomposition in the early post-mortem period using 26 donated human cadavers at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility (ARF), USA. The rate and pattern of decomposition in human cadavers (as measured by TBS and the revised TBSsurf methods) did not vary significantly...

Disaster victim identification following a mass fatality incident is focussed on identifying the deceased and returning them to their families as quickly as possible, while gathering as much information as practical to aid investigators in establishing the cause of the incident. Ante-mortem data is gathered and compared with the post-mortem data ob...

Objectives: This study evaluated chronological changes in physiological stress and levels of habitual loading of Ibizan populations from the Late Roman-Early Byzantine (LREB) to the Islamic period (300-1,235 AD) using measures of body size and bone cross-sectional properties to compare Urban LREB, Urban Medieval Islamic, and Rural Medieval Islamic...

In the last decades, the histomorphometric analysis of bone tissue has been utilized to develop equations for species discrimination of fragmentary bone. Although this technique showed promising results, its main limitation concerns the lack of knowledge on the histomorphometric variability which may exist between different bones of the skeleton. I...

The mechanical and structural properties of bone are known to change significantly with age. Within forensic and archaeological investigations, the medial end of the clavicle is typically used for estimating the age-at-death of an unknown individual. Although, this region of the skeleton is of interest to forensic and clinical domains, alterations...

Once unearthed, human skeletal remains are prone to breakage and decay. At the same time, their preservation is key to the investigation of past populations and the understanding of their religious, cultural, economic, technical, and social backgrounds. Therefore, actions must be taken by field archaeologists and anthropologists to ensure and maxim...

Long bone shaft fragments can be found isolated in archaeological and forensic contexts, such as in mass fatality incidents. When diagnostic morphological landmarks are not visible, the assessment of a human or non-human origin of a bone fragment can be challenging. Further methods need to be developed. In long bones, the presence of a nutrient for...

Introduction Osteometric data may be obtained using digital imaging techniques, such as post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) and digital radiography, non-invasively and without ethical objection. Osteometric data from PMCT is known to be as accurate as taking direct measurements. Digital radiography is more accessible and affordable than PMCT but...

Introduction: The relatively few histological studies on burnt bone centre around estimation of age-at-death, maximum temperature, and species identification. In contrast, histotaphonomic studies have focussed on unburnt bone. Wedl-tunnelling (fungal attack) has been proposed to be an indicator of surface exposed and de-fleshed bones, while bacteri...

Introduction: The relatively few histological studies on burnt bone centre around estimation of age-at-death, maximum temperature, and species identification. In contrast, histotaphonomic studies have focussed on unburnt bone. Wedl-tunnelling (fungal attack) has been proposed to be an indicator of surface exposed and de-fleshed bones, while bacteri...

The Balearic Islands occupy a central space in the western Mediterranean, at the maritime crossroads between North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of southwestern Europe. As such, it is well placed to investigate changes in subsistence practices associated with the major cultural transitions following the arrival of Islamic rule. Stable...

Se presentan los resultados del análisis antropológico efectuado en 27 individuos enterrados según el rito islámico y procedentes de dos alquerías andalusíes (AD X-XVII) localizadas en la actual Vall d’Uixó, Castellón (España). Estas inhumaciones, de cronología aún no especificada, constituyen uno de los pocos ejemplos estudiados de maqâbir rurales...

In recent years, several studies have focused on species discrimination of bone fragments by histological analysis. According to literature, the most consistent distinguishing features are Haversian canal and Haversian system areas. Nonetheless, there is a consistent overlap between human and non-human secondary osteon dimensions. One of the featur...

In recent years there has been an increase in the numbers of archaeologists and physical anthropologists involved in searching, locating and assisting in the identification of war casualties. These scientists have played an invaluable role within a larger team of professionals, working together to provide a dignified burial to those who fell for th...

The nature of forensic anthropology presents a number of ethical challenges to its practitioners. Some of these issues are similar to those encountered in bioarchaeology or biological anthropology, but a number of dilemmas are unique to the discipline. These ethical challenges are continually growing and becoming more significant as forensic anthro...

This book is the first of its kind, combining international perspectives on the current ethical considerations and challenges facing bioarchaeologists in the recovery, analysis, curation, and display of human remains. It explores how museum curators, commercial practitioners, forensic anthropologists, and bioarchaeologists deal with ethical issues...

The roman NW Olisipo necropolis discovered in Praça da Figueira (Lisbon) was located along a major roman road and used between mid-1st to mid 4th centuries AD. To date, 64 inhumations and 23 cremations were identified. Amongst the cremation burials, two large cupae (mid-2nd to 3rd centuries AD) unequivocally stand out. Differently from other simila...

Forensic anthropology has played a major part in the investigation of human rights’ cases and is increasingly playing an important role in searching for missing persons, and assisting in the identification of the deceased in mass fatality incidents. Since its early years, work which was primarily restricted to the laboratory and mortuary setting wi...

One of the fundamental questions in forensic medicine and anthropology is whether or not a bone or bone fragment is human. Surprisingly at times for the extreme degradation of the bone (charred, old), DNA cannot be successfully performed and one must turn to other methods. Histological analysis at times can be proposed. However, the variability of...

La Antropología forense se concibe actualmente como una ciencia multidisciplinar, cuyos objetivos van más allá de la identificación de unos restos esqueléticos. Dentro de esta multidisciplinariedad, juega un papel preponderante la Arqueología forense. La Arqueología forense participa como método de aplicación de las técnicas arqueológicas clásicas...

In bioarchaeology, there have been a number of ethical issues surrounding the excavation and analysis of human remains (Fforde, 2004; Sayer, 2010; Fossheim, 2012; Lohman and Goodnow, 2006), and more recently they have focused on aspects of documentation, dissemination, curation, and repatriation (Buikstra and Gordon, 1981; Larsen and Walker, 2005;...

The fourth rib has been used commonly in order to estimate age at death and even sex in skeletal remains but many often, Iscan's estimates do not adjust to the real age of the individual. Population specific references for sex and age-at-death estimation from the sternal end of the fourth rib are presented for a contemporary Mexican sample. A total...

In recent years, several studies have focused on species identification of bone fragments by the assessment of the histomorphological appearance of bone tissue as well as the quantification of histological structures such as Haversian systems. According to literature, the most consistent distinguishing features are Haversian canal and Haversian sys...

One of the roles of a forensic anthropologist is to assist medico-legal investigations in the identification of human skeletal remains. In some instances, only small fragments of bone may be present. In this study, a non-destructive novel technique is presented to distinguish between human and non-human long bones. This technique is based on the ma...

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Para compreender a morte é necessário contextualiza-la no tempo e no espaço. É também necessário enquadrá-la em termos culturais, sociais e económicos - a disponibilidade e gestão do espaço sepulcral, a mundivivência e mundividência da morte à época. A estas dimensões de análise, associa-se uma dimensão biológica, expressa nos restos humanos esquel...

Entre 1999 e 2001, a construção de um parque de estacionamento subterraneo na Praça da Figueira (Lisboa) obrigou a uma intervenção arqueológica que colocou a descoberto uma necrópole romana - Necrópole Noroeste de Olisipo. Dezasseis anos depois, no âmbito de um estudo transdisciplinar, são analisados os conteúdos gráficos e fotográficos, as estrutu...

The diet of the population interred at the Islamic necropolis of Can Fonoll, Ibiza, Spain, which was in use between the 10th and 13th centuries AD, is reconstructed from the carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope ratios of bone collagen from 112 individuals. The mean ± sd (1σ) δ13C (− 19.0 ± 1.3‰) and δ15N (10.3 ± 0.8‰) values of the Can...

Burning of human remains is one method used by perpetrators to conceal fatal trauma and expert opinions regarding the degree of skeletal evidence concealment are often disparate. This experiment aimed to reduce this incongruence in forensic anthropological interpretation of burned human remains and implicitly contribute to the development of resear...

This chapter presents the current procedure of the examination of an outdoor crime scene in the UK from the perspective of a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist. It also presents a case study that highlights the analysis of certain taphonomic factors, including textile degradation. The case study involves the body of an elderly man that had b...

The last 40 years have seen an increase in outreach activities, many primarily targeted to children, in archaeology. This outreach has benefited both the discipline of archaeology as well as public education. Several projects have pioneered the development of ‘archaeology for children’ in recent decades and have narrowed the gap between heritage an...

Human skeletal remains associated with the former Royal Hospital of All Saints (RHAS, 18th century), were unearthed at Praça da Figueira, in Lisbon, in the years 1999/2000. A sample consisting of 19 individuals (17 adults – 6 females and 11 males, 2 non adults) with an age at death ranging from 4 to 35+ years was examined with the objective to asse...

Human skeletal remains associated with the former Royal Hospital of All Saints (RHAS, 18th century), were unearthed at Praça da Figueira, in Lisbon, in the years 1999/2000. A sample consisting of 19 individuals (17 adults – 6 females and 11 males, 2 non adults) with an age at death ranging from 4 to 35+ years was examined with the objective to asse...

A nadie debería extrañar que en todas las actuaciones médico-legales donde un cadáver se encuentre enterrado deberían participar otros profesionales especializados con el registro y este tipo de escenas, como son los arqueólogos (Polo-Cerdá, 2002). Sin embargo, en España esta circunstancia se antoja una excepción, no siendo su participación una nor...

During the excavation of the Spanish Civil War mass grave at La Pedraja (Burgos, Spain), 104 individuals were found interred within it, 45 of which displayed brains that were preserved but dehydrated and reduced in size. This exceptional finding has resulted in the formation of a multidisciplinary team, with the aim of obtaining as much information...

Note: this thesis contains errors that were not noted until after submission. It is presented here in its uncorrected, original form. This thesis presents the findings of the osteological examination of skeletal remains exhumed from the Royal Hospital of All-Saints (RHAS), Lisbon, and constitutes the first comprehensive study of a hospital skeleta...

This paper provides an overview of the development and current practice of physical anthropology as relating to the treatment of archaeological skeletal remains in Europe. The evolution of physical anthropology as a discipline is covered in detail from the 18th century onwards, and current trends in education and research are also discussed. Additi...

Anthropologists are frequently required to confirm or exclude the human origin of skeletal remains; DNA and protein radioimmunoassays are useful in confirming the human origin of bone fragments but are not always successful. Histology may be the solution, but the young subadult structure could create misinterpretation. Histological tests were condu...

Human remains are present in a number of contexts. Some of these are archaeological burial sites, which can comprise individual or mass graves burials. Human remains are usually found buried (or cremated), but they can also be found in museums and in universities, as part of their anatomical collections. Human remains can be found in churches as re...

Context: Information on methods of age estimation in physical anthropology, in particular with regard to age-at-death from human skeletal remains, is widely available in the literature. However, the practicalities and real challenges faced in forensic casework are not always highlighted. Objectives: To provide a practitioner's perspective, regar...

In 2009, a metal-detector find of a rare garnet-inlaid composite disc brooch at West Hanney, Oxfordshire, led to the excavation of an apparently isolated female burial sited in a prominent position overlooking the Ock valley. The burial dates to the middle decades of the seventh century, a period of rapid socio-political development in the region,...

Archaeology is increasingly seen in Spain as a discipline which can provide much support in the search, location and recovery of buried and surface human remains in criminal and medico-legal contexts. The concept of forensic archaeology is becoming established as an increasing number of cases involving buried remains from clandestine graves, as wel...

In the past decade, interest has grown in Spain with regard to recovering the remains of the victims of the Civil War and the Francoist regime that followed. With the arrival of democracy in Spain in 1978, numerous exhumations were undertaken although unfortunately without technical or institutional support, and hence little information is availabl...

Within Northwest Europe, especially the U.K., the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) are the largest wild scavengers capable of modifying a set of remains through scavenging. Knowledge of region-specific and species-typical scavenging behaviors of scavengers within the crime scene area and surroundings can aid in more ef...

The aim of this paper is to provide an effective and quick reference guide based on the most useful European formulae recently published for sub-adult age estimation. All of these formulae derive from studies on postnatal growth of the scapula, innominate, femur and tibia, based on modern skeletal data (173 ♂, 173 ♀) from five documented collection...