National Museum of Natural History Bulletin for Teachers
Vol. 15 No. 1 Winter 1993FORENSIC SLEUTHS SOLVE MYSTERIES
Few people are aware that physicalanthropologists serve as regular consultantsto the FBI Laboratories in Washington, D.C.or that they assist medical and law enforce-ment personnel throughout the country inforensic cases by examining the remains ofunidentified deceased persons, especiallywhen the remains have been partially orcompletely skeletonized.Smithsonian forensic anthropologists havehelped develop many of the techniques usedto identify and study the dead and haveparticipated in some of the most notoriouscases of this century, including theidentification of victims of serial killers.The first article, "Getting Away withMurder?Almost" presents two case studiestaken from a new book by DouglasUbelaker and writer Henry Scammel titled
Bones: A Forensic Detective's Casebook thatdetails the work of forensic anthropologists.Forensic techniques are described in thesecond article, "Tales Bones Tell" by RobertMann, formerly with the Smithsonian'sDepartment of Anthropology.GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER
-ALMOSTBefore the value of the forensicanthropologist's insight and experiencegained its present wide acceptance in thelegal process, there is no doubt that morepeople got away with murder. A goodexample is the onetime insurance salesmanin Yakima, Washington, who beat his wifeto death with a hammer in 1975, set up thekilling to look like an accident, and escapedarrest for almost a decade.
Page 2 Anthro NotesOn the face of it, he was the kind of killerone would expect to be caught a lot earlier.He would put away half a quart of scotchand a six-pack of beer in a typical day. Headvertised his intentions in advance to atleast one of his numerous girlfriends. Hisformer in-laws were so certain he hadmurdered his wife that they went to theexpense of an exhumation, privateautopsies, and an appeal to the districtattorney to reopen the case based onevidence that contradicted the officialcause of death. His second wife divorcedhim and told the police he had boasted toher of the crime; she even recited in detailhow he had done it. For all that, it took aspecial petition to the governor by the deadwoman's sister to bring the man to trial.According to his second wife's courttestimony, the killer believed he was freefor so long because the cops were stupid.Anybody can get away with murder, hesaid, if they just commit the crime thatplausibly can be explained as an accident.He hit his wife three times on the head witha claw hammer because sideways it madethe same kind of impact mark as a horse-shoe, placed her body in a horse stall behindtheir house, then drove down to the localbakery where he paid for a bag of assorteddonuts by check. He told the police thatwhen he returned home and didn't find hiswife in the house, something prodded himto look in the barn. Imagine his horrorwhen he found she had been kicked.He thought she was still alive when hecalled an ambulance?a nice touch. One ofhis children said he cried for a week.The killer was wrong about the police beingstupid. They did what they were supposedto do, but sometimes that is not enoughprotection against a good lie and a killer'sgood luck. Sheriff's deputies recorded adetailed report of what they were told andwhat they found, investigated the murderscene, took pictures, and removed the body.The medical examiner was not stupideither, but the state did not require forensictraining for physicians who certifyaccidental death. The coroner did what hecould, considering his lack of training and
experience. He found a gaping lacerationin the right temporal parietal area exposinga depressed skull fracture, and a similarinjury with a broader fracture on theopposite side of the head. He removed thescalp and then the top of the skull,measured and described the two depressedfractures, and reported in detail on thelinear fractures connecting them. Thecoroner compared these injuries to thosedescribed in the story he had heard; then,with a detective sergeant, he returned toexamine the horse stall. Two feet above thefloor, directly adjacent to a wall which wasstill stained with the brush marks of thevictim's bloody hair, they found a timberwith a projection on the end whichcorresponded to the injury in her righttemple. The coroner wrote in his report,
"The blood stains indicated that thedeceased's head had been moving in adirection away from the timber whichwould be logical as a result of her fallingforward after being kicked against thetimber." Under Manner of Death heentered, "Being kicked by a horse."A few months later, the killer married oneof his girlfriends, to whom he haddescribed his crime. It is hard to imaginethat a union based on such a bond wouldever end, but when it did, several yearslater, there was an unpleasant agreementover who got the furniture. As a generalrule, it is imprudent to argue toovehemently with an adversary you know isholding aces. She settled the furniture issueby going to the police with the story of themurder.
Fortunately, there was a huge differencebetween the first medical examination andthe studies of the remains that preceded theformal trial. This time the evidence wasreviewed by experts: three forensicpathologists, two forensic anthropologists,and detectives trained in reading theevidence of murder. These experts includedDouglas Ubelaker, a Smithsonian consultantin forensic anthropology to the FBILaboratories in Washington, D.C.Ubelaker reported two principal points offocus on the skull that produced separate,unconnected fracture lines that
Page 3 Anthro Notes
contradicted the observations of theoriginal examiner and pointed to thepossibility of a different type of event thanthe one described earlier. The objectproducing the puncture mark at the smallersite was sharper than the other, and itproduced an ovoid hole measuring 14 x 21mm with a sharp upper margin and acrushed, flattened lower margin. Thepattern suggested the trauma was inflictedat this site from above rather than frombelow or from the side.The killer had allowed the murder weaponto turn in his hand before delivering thatparticular blow; an ovoid hole of that typeand size does not come from an objectresembling a horse shoe, but is the signatureimprint of a hammerhead. A second forensicanthropologist even computed the exactangle of the hammer's attack and the forceof the blow. A pathologist demonstrated itwas physically impossible for the body tohave contorted in such a way that thepuncture wound could have been caused bythe knob on the beam. Finally, anotherspecialist demonstrated that the swipes ofbloody hair on the wall were not the conse-quence of a kick, but were painted there byhair that had time to become fullysaturated and had brushed against the wall,not once but twice, as the dying or deadwoman's body was being carefully loweredby the killer into its position on the floor ofthe stall.
In his summation, the prosecutor addressedthe essence of the difference between thefirst and second examination. He pointedout that the first medical examiner didwhat many physicians, not forensicspecialists, would have done under similarcircumstances. He took what appeared onthe surface to be a reasonable explanation,
"a horse kick killed her," and did hisautopsy and subsequent examination of thescene with that in mind. He made a fatalmistake: he assumed he knew what hadhappened and then tried to fit the facts intothose assumptions. Forensic pathologistsare trained not to make that mistake.
Part of a detective's job is to include anyrelevant information, even speculative, thatmight be of use to the examiner. Like the
examiner, the detective is expected toremain neutral, not anticipating the resultof such a search. Even when the policemanis careful to express no such anticipation,there is a risk the examiner will find moreclues in the letter accompanying the exa-mination request than is in evidence fromthe remains. A letter accompanying theskeletal remains of a young girl fromSwansea, Massachusetts, offers a case inpoint.The identity of the victim had already beenestablished, the letter said, as a youngwoman who had disappeared two yearsbefore. "She was age 16 at the time. Shehad run away from home three timesalready and had returned. She was a knowndrug (marijuana) user and had been introuble with the law." The letter went on todescribe two specific physicalcharacteristics by which the identity mightbe confirmed?a chipped mandibular fronttooth and an old injury above the left eyefrom a rock thrown up by a lawn mowerblade when she was only two. In additionto the positive ID, the letter asked for
"possible cause of death," adding at the end,
"Several weeks before her disappearance,her mother stated that she had beenthreatened with bodily harm by herboyfriend."On the face of it, the detective did notappear to express a bias toward eitherpossible cause of death: a drug overdose orviolence at the hands of her boyfriend. Butit was clear, later, that police inMassachusetts were leaning heavily towardthe probability she had died of an OD. Thedetective who sent the remains to the FBIwas apparently a better guesser than mostof his peers; he addressed his letter to theMicroscopic Analysis Laboratory. After abody has been skeletonized, a microscopedoes not reveal much information aboutdrug use, but it often can reveal insights asto possible acts of violence.A forensic examination by Ubelaker beganwith sex, age, race, and time since death, allof which were consistent with the informa-tion on the supposed victim. Ubelakerconfirmed a chip out of the buccal surfaceof the right central mandibular incisor.
Page 4 Anthro Notes
Despite the tremendous growth andremodelling the face undergoes between theages of two and sixteen, the old fracturefrom the lawn mower incident, long sincehealed, was still visible on the frontal boneabove the left eye orbit. Withoutreasonably current medical x-rays or dentalrecords for comparison, neither was positiveproof of identity, but, added to otherevidence recovered at the site, theyreinforced a strong circumstantial case thatthese were the remains of the missing girl.A first sign of trauma was on the first boneexamined; the left twelfth rib bore a 2 mmincision produced by a knife or a knife-likeinstrument. There was another incision,this time 12 mm in length, on the next rib.Because it had been two years since thegirl's disappearance and presumed death,her skeleton had largely disarticulated.But as Ubelaker examined bone after bone,he kept encountering evidence of brutalstabbing.The victim had been stabbed just below theright knee and three times more above andbelow the left knee. She had been stabbedonce in each buttock and in the groin.There were seven separate stab marksscattered around the back, four more in thenape of the neck, and one in the left side ofthe neck. There was a total of ten moresuch wounds in the head. Some of theincisions in the skull were so violent theyhad bent back the bone. Ordinarily woundsthat result from such obvious frenzy aregrouped in a particular area, but in thiscase they appeared to travel the full lengthof the body. Ubelaker still remembers thesurprise of the police when he called to tellthem their case of suspected drug overdosewas in fact a violent murder.A few weeks after Ubelaker's examinationan important new piece of evidence wasrecovered near the murder site as aconsequence of his report. A man who livedin the area came forward after reading inthe newspaper that the death had been bystabbing. Only a short distance from wherethe skeleton had been discovered, he said hehad found an object he now realized as alikely murder weapon. The object was afolding trench knife with brass knuckles on
the handle and the word "Assassin" writtenon the eight-inch blade. By matching thecurve of the blade exactly with some of theincisions in the bone, Ubelaker was able toprove the knife could have been the murderweapon and to demonstrate that the bladelikely had become bent in the fury of theattack.Matching the murder weapon to thesignatures it had left on the skeleton wasonly part of the necessary equation,however, and the case remained unsolvedfor another two years. Finally, one of theneighborhood boys went to the police. Hesaid the killer was a friend from highschool, and that he had shared the details ofwhat had happened the day of the murder.One of those details was that the foldingblade of the knife had snapped shut againstthe killer's thumb during the attack, andthat night he had gone to a walk-in medicalcenter for stitches. Police verified that thesuspect had indeed received treatment onthe night of the date the girl disappeared.They finally had enough evidence to arrestthe boyfriend?who had been suspected bythe victim's mother from the beginning.When Ubelaker flew up to Massachusetts totestify at the trial, he thought how unlikelyit was that this murder should have gone solong unsolved. Totally unplanned, it hadbeen carried out by a heavily druggedyoung man in a rage, the body left out inthe open where anyone could have trippedover it, the murder weapon recovered with-in just a few yards of the corpse, and theperpetrator identified as a prime suspecteven while the case was nothing more thana missing person. These thoughts werereinforced when Ubelaker arrived at thecourthouse. During the trial he learned thatthe killer had confided his crime to at leastsix other boys in the weeks following themurder, yet five years passed before asingle one of them came forward.Strangest of all was what the boyfriend/murderer recalled of events at the walk-inmedical center, where he received stitchesin his hand. "One of the nurses told him, 'It
Page 5 Anthro Notes
looks like you killed somebody from all theblood.'" Douglas UbelakerHenry Scammell
TALES BONES TELL
In cases of homicide, mass disaster, missingpersons, and death from undetermined orsuspicious causes, law enforcementpersonnel often turn to scientists. Scientistsin diverse fields (physical anthropology,botany, entomology, biochemistry, andsociocultural specialties such as costumedesign and analysis) apply their expertise toexamining the human skeleton and relatedartifacts to illuminate the identification ofremains or the circumstances surrounding adeath. Physical or forensic anthropologistshave participated in some of the mostpublicized cases of the century, includingthe identification of victims of serialkillers such as Ted Bundy, the Green RiverKiller, Henry Lee Lucas, and JeffreyDahmer; of soldiers killed in Korea,Vietnam or Operation Desert Storm; and thesolution of mysteries surrounding suchfigures as the Texas gunfighter William P.Longley and the kidnapped Lindberghbaby.
Forensic anthropologists examine humanskeletal material using a variety oftechniques to obtain many kinds of data.Determination of sex, race, age, stature,date and cause of death, and occupationalor habitual activities all help in the questfor positive personal identification.Determination of SexThe most reliable osteological (bony)indications of sex are the pelvis, skull, andmandible, and the size of the long bonesand joints. The female pelvic girdleconsists of two hip bones and a sacrum thathave a number of bony features differingfrom those of a male. For example, whenthe two hip bones of an adult female areput together with the sacrum and viewedfrom above, the birth opening is circularand large; female hip bones have a moreoutward flare than those of males; and thefemale pelvis has a broader notch for thesciatic nerve and a wider angle where thetwo pubic bones, which are long andrectangular, come together. These structuraltraits facilitate the process of giving birth.In contrast, the male pelvis is usually largerand more muscle marked than the female.The cavity viewed from above is heart-
The forensic anthropologist can usuallydetermine age at death, race, sex, andstature; detect any indications of trauma,disease, and occupational or habitualactivities; and estimate elapsed time sincedeath. The best sources?often the onlysources?of such information are theskeleton and teeth.When a complete skeleton or even a singlebone is found, the first question is whetherit is human, nonhuman animal, or other(e.g., burned gourd resembling a humanskull). As human and animal bones differ intexture, density, shape, and size, visualexamination quickly provides an answer.Should human and animal bones be present,they are separated, and the number ofindividuals represented by the human bonesdetermined. Next the bones are examinedfor evidence of stabbing, bullet wounds, orbutchering (i.e., disarticulation).
VIVELADIFFERENCE
- -r^wjc*;-
Page 6 Anthro Notes
shaped rather than circular and the pubicbones are short and triangular.Like the pelvis, the male skull is typicallylarger and more muscle marked than that ofthe female. In addition, males exhibitlarger mastoid processes (behind the ears),a sloping forehead with more developedbrowridges, blunt upper margins of the eyeorbits, in contrast to the sharp orbital rimsof females, and a larger lower jaw with amore squared chin.Racial AffiliationRacial affiliation is difficult to determineeven in the living. Human populations, oreven human families who are closelyrelated genetically, are extremely variable.In addition, humans have always been quitemobile, and interbreeding among differentpopulations is common throughout theworld. Many of the characteristics used bythe public to determine "race", such as aparticular skin color or nose shape, actuallyoccur throughout the world in unrelatedpopulations. The concepts "Black," "White,"
"Asian," or "Native American," commonlyused in the US, are social constructs, whoseboundaries are arbitrary and bear littlerelationship to biological affinities. Inexamining skeletal material, the forensicanthropologist faces a further dilemma.Skeletal attributes more common inparticular populations may not correspondat all to the surface characteristics such asskin color or hair form that are used tosuggest ancestry among the living.
In the order of most to least reliable, theskeletal indicators of racial affiliation-people of African descent, people ofEuropean descent, and East Asians, whichinclude Native Americans, Eskimos,Chinese, Japanese, and other Asians?aremost apparent in facial structure, skull,teeth, and thigh bone. Anthropologistsassess these attributes on a scale rangingfrom mild to prominent. For example,many people of African descent have short,wide nasal openings and grooves at the baseof the bony portion of the nose in contrastto many people of European descent, whohave narrow, long nasal openings and aridge at the base of the nose. When viewed
from the front, the faces of "Europeans"tend to be narrow and long, and those of
"Africans" tend to be wider and shorter; andthose of "Asians" may range from flat toconcave.
In regard to teeth, "Africans" often havecomplicated or "wrinkled" molar cusppatterns. Two dental traits common tomany "Asians" are an edge-to-edge bite andshovel-shaped incisors. Nearly all NativeAmericans who lived before about AD 1900,and many extant Asian groups, haveseverely worn teeth.Determination of AgeThe age of a person less than 18 years oldcan be determined most accurately by thestage of dental development, as the teethdevelop in a predictable sequence makingpossible an age estimate generally accurateto within six months.The size and stage of development of thelong bones in the legs and arms also provideinformation for estimating the age of asubadult to within about 16 months. Themaximum length of a single bone can beobtained and compared to bone lengthsbased on clinical growth standards; theresulting age estimate is accurate to withina few months.Whereas age estimates of children are basedon the stage of development of the skeletonand teeth, those of adults are derived fromadvanced growth and degenerative changes.Thus indicators of adult age include thestages of sutural closure in the skull'scranial vault and palate and structuralchanges of the pelvis. Equally importantindicators are degenerative changes, such asarthritis of the spine and joints, and ageneral decrease in bone mass, a conditionknown as osteoporosis.Determination of StatureStature or height can be determined for achild or an adult if there is at least onecomplete or nearly complete long bone ofthe arm (humerus, radius, or ulna) or leg(continued on p. 14)
Page 7 Anthro NotesSUMMER FIELDWORKOPPORTUNITIES
Looking for adventure? For an opportunityto acquire new skills? Become a member ofan archeological excavation or a scientificexpedition in the United States or abroadand learn about another culture, past orpresent.SMITHSONIAN PROGRAMSAnthropology-related summer projectsoffered by Smithsonian ResearchExpeditions are:Crow Culture: Writing a ContemporaryEthnography. The first team will recordeveryday life on Crow Agency in Montana(April 14-20); the second team willdocument activities at the annual pow wow,Crow Fair (August 18-24).
Assisting the North American IndianProgram. Planning for the new NativePeoples of North America Hall requiresthree teams: script verification (March 7-20), photographic documentation (May 9-22), and research for the information guide(July 11-24).The Him-Dak Museum . Volunteers willcreate a native garden in cooperation withThe Him-Dak, a tribally operatedecomuseum on the Ak-Chin IndianCommunity in Maricopa, AZ (May 9-15).Polynesian Barkcloth: Preserving aTradition . Two teams of volunteers areneeded to assist in the conservation ofPolynesian barkcloth in the Department ofAnthropology's collections. Tours ofconservation labs and lectures will givevolunteers additional knowledge.For further information, write or callSmithsonian Research Expeditions, 490L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Suite 4210,Washington, DC 22024; (202) 287-3210.
Office of Elementary and SecondaryEducation (OESE)OESE offers week-long courses in thesciences, arts, and humanities with in-service credit for teachers, K-12, fromMaryland, the District of Columbia, andVirginia. Call Clare Cuddy at (202) 357-2404 for a registration form after May 1.ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTACTAnthropology departments at localuniversities and colleges, state historicpreservation offices, and state archeologicalsocieties organize local archeologicalexcavations and frequently acceptvolunteers with no previous fieldworkexperience. The Archaeological Institute ofAmerica (AIA) offers a listing of statearcheologists as part of its yearly fieldschool listing for the U.S. and abroad. Thecost, including shipping and handling, is$11.50 for members and $13.50 for non-members. For each additional copyordered, add 50 cents for shipping. Write:Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co., Order Dept.,2460 Kerper Blvd., Dubuque, IA 52001;(800) 338-5578. Archaeology magazine,published by the AIA, features an archeo-
Page 8 Anthro Notes
logy travel guide to sites open to the publicin the Old World (March/April issue) andthe New World (May/June issue). A fieldschool listing is also available from theAmerican Anthropological Association for$5.00 for members and $7.00 fornon-members, with a self-addressedenvelope with 56 cents postage. Write: AAA,1703 New Hampshire Ave., N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20009 or call (202)232-8800.Several organizations offer volunteer publicparticipation in worldwide researchexpeditions. Many of these organizations,listed below are non-profit and participa-tion fees may be treated as tax-deductiblecontributions.University Research Expeditions ProgramUniversity of California2223 Fulton, 4th FloorBerkeley, CA 94720(510)642-6586Earthwatch680 Mount Auburn St., Box 403,Watertown, MA 02272.(617)926-8200(Scholarships available for teachers)CEDAM International(CEDAM stands for Conservation,Education, Diving, Archeology, Museums)Fox RoadCroton-on-Hudson, NY 10520(914)271-5365SELECTED FIELD SCHOOLSSyracuse University offers summer andsemester programs in Australia to studyAustralian cultures, native language,society, and ecology. Write: SyracuseUniversity, Division of InternationalPrograms Abroad, 119 Euclid Ave.,Syracuse, NY 13224; 1-800-235-3472.Summer Abroad through World Learning,Inc., the U.S. Experiment in InternationalLiving, offers students and adultsopportunities to learn another culturethrough homestay, language-study, andecologically-focused programs. Write: WorldLearning, Inc., The U.S. Experiment in
International Living, P.O. Box 676, KiplingRd., Brattleboro, VT 50302-0676; (802) 258-3173.
Picuris Pueblo in the Sangre de CristoMountains, New Mexico, is the focus of anethnographic field school (July 25-August15) sponsored by Middlesex County College.In addition to three weeks of instruction onthe southwest cultures and in field methods,students will live with Pueblo families andparticipate in village life, including potterymaking, adobe construction and feast day.Write: Dr. Diane Z. Wilhelm, MiddlesexCounty College, 155 Mill Road, Box 3050,Edison, NJ 08818-3050; or call (908) 548-6000 ext. 3099.High school students and teachers areinvited to excavate, for one to four weeks,a ceremonial mound at MoundvilleArchaeological Park, the site of aMississippian culture (A.D. 1,000 to 1,500).Write: Melissa Moon, Museum Expeditions,Alabama Museum of Natural History, Box870340, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0340; or call(205) 348-2040.Archeological Field School in Bermuda.sponsored by The College of William andMary, July 5-August 14, will focus on early17th century forts on Castle Island andrural domestic sites in Hog Bay Park.Application deadline is April 1. FieldSchool director is Norman F. Barka. Write:Dr. Ann M Moore, Programs Abroad, RevesCenter for International Studies, College ofWilliam and Mary, P.O. Box 8795, Williams-burg, VA 23187-8795, or call (804) 221-3594; FAX (804) 221-3597.Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is anon-profit institution specializing inSouthwestern archeological research andeducation. The Adult Research Program:Ethnobotany, consisting of week-longsessions, is conducted from the last week ofMay through the second week of October.The High School Field School takes placefrom June 27 to July 24. The Teachers'Workshop is scheduled for July 31-August 8.Transferable academic credit is availablefor these programs. Archaeological andcultural programs to the Southwest andworkshops led by American Indians are also
Page 9 Anthro Notes
offered. Write or call: Crow CanyonArchaeological Center, 23390 County RoadK, Cortez, CO 81321; (800) 422-8975, (303)565-8975.Special seven-day Archeological FieldSeminars on the Four Corners Region, ledby Southwestern archeologists, will takeplace from May through October. Write orcall: Dr. Stuart Struever or Dr. StephenLekson, Crow Canyon ArchaeologicalCenter, 1777 South Harrison St., Suite 815,Denver, CO 80210; (303) 759-9212.Expedition to the Neeev desert in Israel(July 9 to August 8) will involve excavationof a Byzantine church and a Middle BronzeAge structure, with one week of touring.Write or call the Prof. Steven Derfler,Department of Religion, Hamlin Univer-sity, St. Paul, MN 55104; (612) 641-2392;FAX, 641-2956.Center for American Archeology.Kampsville Archeological Center conductseducational research programs for juniorand senior high school students, collegestudents, and the non-professional, andworkshops for teachers. Scholarships areavailable for American Indian students.Write: Admissions Office, KampsvilleArcheological Center, Kampsville, IL 62053,or call (618) 653-4316.Drew University in West Africa offers acomprehensive study of West African artand architecture in Mali and Cote d'lvore.In Mali (July 4-24), students will beintroduced to West African culturesthrough lectures and travel. In the Coted'lvore (July 22-August 21), students willlearn through apprenticeships about WestAfrican arts and crafts and archaeology.Write: Off-Campus Program Office, BC- 1 1 5,Drew University, Madison, NJ 07940-4036;(201)408-3438.Northwestern University's EthnographicField School (June 21-August 14) is anopportunity to learn about the Navajo orHispanic cultures of New Mexico andArizona by designing independent researchprojects. Write or call: Professor OswaldWerner, Department of Anthropology,Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
60208; (708) 491-5402 or (708) 328-4012,evenings.
Historical Archaeology Field School atHistoric St. Mary's City. Maryland willfocus this season on an unknown brickfoundation that may be a 17th centuryJesuit school. The ten-week intensive fieldschool begins June 10. The public canvolunteer to excavate throughout thesummer and conduct lab work in the winter.Write: Dr. Tim Riordan, ArchaeologyProgram, Department of Research, HSMC,P.O. Box 39, St. Mary's City, MD 20686, orcall (301) 862-0974.
Fieldtrip to Mexico (May 7-25) is designedfor understanding the geography and cul-tures, past and present, of Mexico. Write:Isabelle Champlin, University of Pittsburghat Bradford, 300 Campus Dr., Bradford, PA16701-2898; or call (814) 362-7500.Quarai Pueblo field season (May 31-July 11)will explore ceramic production and traderelations between southern Plains hunter-gatherers and eastern Puebloan farmers.Application deadline: March 30. Write: Dr.Katerine A. Spielmann, Department ofAnthropology, Arizona State University,Tempe, AZ 85287-2402; (602) 965-6213.Human Origins and Prehistory in Kenya:The Koobi Fora Field School (July 18-August 28), offered by Harvard UniversitySummer School and the National Museumsof Kenya, introduces the wealth ofpaleoanthropological evidence at KoobiFora and field methods in early humanresearch. Write or call: Dr. Harry V.Merrick, Koobi Fora Field School, HarvardSummer School, 20 Garden St., Cambridge,MA 02138, (203) 481-0674 or (617) 495-2921.
Salt Center for Documentary Field Studieswill document the tradition and change inMaine among American Indians, fishermen,store keepers, mill workers, farmers, andartisans. Write Salt Center for Documen-tary Field Studies, 19 Pine St., P.O. Box4077, Portland, ME 04101, or call (207) 761-0660.
Page 10 Anthro NotesANTHROPOLOGY ANDMULTICULTURALISM[Editor's Note: The following article onAnthropology and Multiculturalism iscomposed of two sections: an Introductionby Ruth O. Selig and excerpts from
"Multiculturalism, Cultural Relativism, andCompeting Perspectives on the Encounter,"by Lawrence B. Breitborde, published in theMarch 1992 issue of Social Education.]
IntroductionAt an informal party, among strangers,a majority of non-Indians try to maketalk with whoever will listen. They feelcompelled to act, to make contact, tocover their uneasiness with talk, withaction. Traditional Indians, on the otherhand, will stand or sit quietly, sayingnothing, watching, learning, trying todiscover what is expected of them, andspeaking only when they are sure ofthemselves. White people find theirplace by active experimentation, Indiansby quiet alertness. One Indian saidabout a white acquaintance, "He'd ratherbe wrong than silent" {Teaching theNative American, edited by HapGilliland, et. al., 1988).
Jose Ybarra and Edmund Jones are atthe same party and it is important forthem to establish a cordial relationshipfor business reasons. Each is trying tobe warm and friendly, yet they will partwith mutual distrust and their businesstransaction will probably fall through.Jose, in Latin fashion, moved closer andcloser to Edmund as they spoke, and thismovement was miscommunicated aspushiness to Edmund, who kept backingaway from this intimacy, and this wasmiscommunicated to Jose as coldness.The silent languages of Latin andEnglish cultures are more difficult tolearn than their spoken languages ("TheSounds of Silence" by Edward andMildred Hall, 1971).During this past year, several anthropolo-gists have addressed the issues of "Cultural
Diversity" and "Multiculturalism," and therole anthropology should be playing inhelping students and teachers face thechallenges of an increasingly diverse andchanging world. (See "Points of View:Multiculturalism and Museums," by Ruth O.Selig in Anthro.Notes, Fall 1992).Anthropology is not a central player in thegrowing debate over issues of diversity,equity, and multiculturalism in schools, orin universities as Richard J. Perry pointsout in his article, "Why do MulticulturalistsIgnore Anthropologists." (Richard J. Perry,The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 4,1992: A52). As Perry wryly states, "mostanthropologists hope that we can play apart. But many of us are taken aback byour empty dance cards."As Perry says, the issues that appear centralto educators concerned with multicultur-alism--"the concept of culture, culturalrelativism, the interpretation of othersystems of thought, and so on?have beencentral to anthropology throughout thiscentury," yet anthropologists are scarcelyincluded in the debates on universitycampuses across the nation. In addition,anthropologists find some of the approachesof the new multiculturalists questionablebecause they are based on a simplisticconcept of culture and a "visceral" approachto understanding other cultures. "Theycommunicate a sense that one can bypasstedious scholarly discussions of kinshipsystems, economic patterns, and food-getting strategies of "others" and go straightfor what it 'feels like' to be one of them."Perry accuses the new multiculturalists ofnaivete, particularly in dealing withcultural relativism that is commonlyconfused with moral relativism. "Culturalrelativism does not...mean that all humanbehavior merits approval. It only meansthat to understand what people do, it ismore useful to ask why they do it than todecide whether or not they should." Fourmonths after Perry's article, the Presidentof the American Anthropological Associa-tion, Annette B. Weiner, wrote a secondpiece for The Chronicle of Higher Educationtitled "Anthropology's Lessons for CulturalDiversity" (July 22, 1992:B2). Like Perry,Weiner decries the fact that "anthro-
Page 11 Anthro Notes
pology's insights into studying andrepresenting multiple cultural identities...are ignored by most participants in today'sdebates. As the multicultural controversyhas gained increasing public attention,anthropologists have remained silent?perhaps discouraged by the simplisticassumptions about cultural identitypromulgated by those on the right and thefar left."Weiner's article goes on to describe theanthropological understanding of culture asit developed through time, and in particularFranz Boas' contributions and battles in theearly 20th century to combat ethnocentrismand racism. Boas strove to foster respectfor cultural diversity in an atmosphere ofhostility and determination to use publicschooling to "enforce assimilation of ethnicminorities into the dominant Americanculture." Weiner's article ends with aclarion call to anthropologists:
It is time for anthropologists to helpother scholars redefine multiculturalismas a movement that finally takes usbeyond the ethnocentrism and fear thatso deeply shaped the history of thiscountry. The challenge remains--as itwas in the 19th century?to fostermultiple ways of understanding culturaldifferences, thus creating a more equi-table society without feeding the forcesof racism and ethnocentrism once again.
In his article, Lawrence B. Breitbordeconsiders at length the relevance ofanthropology to the Quincentenary and tothe debate over multiculturalism.Breitborde welcomes Columbus Day as achallenge for us "to help students?andourselves?understand how groups separatedby cultural differences can be integratedinto a larger, coherent society." In thearticle, Breitborde offers an extendedanalysis of the concept of culturalrelativism and thereby offers one concreteway in which anthropology can helpteachers and students understand theirincreasingly diverse world.Cultures are constantly being negotiated bythe culture-bearers. Someone enculturatedinto one culture but operating in another is
often faced with two sets of cultural rules.He or she may choose one or the other set ofrules, modify either so that it is even moredifferent in order to emphasize his or herdistinctiveness, negotiate a compromisebetween the two, or create somethingentirely new. While Breitborde's article doesnot address the complexity of cultures incontact in a multi-cultural nation such asthe United States, Anthro.Notes editors planto publish on this topic in the future.Ruth O. Selig
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CULTURAL RELATIVISM[Below are excerpts from "Multiculturalism,Cultural Relativism, and CompetingPerspectives on the Encounter" by LawrenceB. Breitborde]Anthropology. . .provides a perspective bywhich [we can] make sense of the world inwhich we live, including the cacophony ofcompeting views, values and perceptions.What anthropology offers is culturalrelativism, a concept that has fallen out offavor in recent years.The classic definition of cultural relativismis that perspective by which any aspect ofbehavior or custom is understood in thecontext of the culture of which it is part.Its opposite is, of course, ethnocentrism . by
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which one would use the values andstandards of one's own culture to evaluate(erroneously) the meaning of behaviors orcustoms of another culture. Ethnocentrismdistorts the meaning and function of aparticular custom by detaching itartificially from its immediate culturalcontext. Cultural relativism allows us to seehow particular customs, values and beliefsfit together, providing a sense of the worldas a particular community understands it.
...Anthropology brought the world culturalrelativism as a corrective to ethnocentrism.It has become a concept powerful in itssimplicity: Understand the behavior ofother groups in their own terms and fromtheir own perspective.
Critics of Cultural Relativism
All along, there have been critics of thisconcept. The concern most widely knownoutside universities, and the one that hasoften brought cultural relativism intodisfavor in the current debates on multi-culturalism, is about values. When weconsider behavior only in the context of theculture of which it is part, we discover timeand again that there is almost always aclear sense, a rationale, for the behaviorunder scrutiny?that behaving makes sensein a culturally defined way. What might,from our own ethnocentric point of view,appear to be appalling, evil, or stupid, will,from the context of the culture of which itis part, make sense and may even meet thelocal definition of goodness and virtue.More alarming is the implication that noabsolute definitions or standards exist orcan exist for virtue and evil; in this sense,cultural relativism leads to moralbankruptcy.Worse still, in assessing the value of otherpeople's customs in terms of their owncultures, we simultaneously relativize ourown customs and beliefs. Our ways ofbehaving, our values, and our notions ofgood and evil become just another way thata culture (this time, our own) has arrangedthings. In this view, everything is quitearbitrary. Anthropologists' gift to theworld, cultural relativism, leads to a
recognition of the arbitrariness of allcultures and values.These fears are confirmed outside ofanthropolgy; social critics have not sparedcultural relativism or its anthropologicalproponents from blame for the increasingsocial divisiveness and moral decay they seein our society. In his recent critique ofhigher school education in the UnitedStates, for example, Allan Bloom singles outanthropologists and relativism for specialattention:Sexual adventurers like Margaret Meadand others who found America toonarrow told us that not only must weknow other cultures and learn to respectthem, but we could also profit fromthem. We could follow their lead andloosen up, liberating us from the opinionthat our taboos are anything other thansocial constraints. We could go to thebazaar of cultures and find reinforce-ment for inclinations that are repressedby puritanical guilt feelings...(Bloom1987, 33; cited in Klass 1991, 356).
...On-going controversies about multicultur-alism in our schools add fuel to these fires.For some time, most anthropologistsdeployed the concept of cultural relativismin the study of cultures other than our own.The debate on multi-culturalism, however,brings cultural relativism to intra-societalquestions. Now we must ask how our ownsociety will be able to hang together giventhe myriad cultural differences thatcharacterize the population. We are forcedto confront the search for common moralstandards and values among groups whosecultural differences seem at times greaterthan their cultural commonalities. We havelost the luxury of approaching, asrelativists, groups of people far removedfrom us by oceans and time; we now arechallenged to approach, as relativists,people with whom we share our society?ourcities, our schools, and other publicinstitutions?but with whom we may differin appearance, language, deportment, tastes,and values.There is a historical irony about this mostrecent dilemma of cultural relativism. In
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its formulation in the early 20th century,cultural relativism was shaped by politicalevents in U.S. society. To a great extent,cultural relativism was an intellectualresponse to "bad" science deployed to justifyrestrictive immigration. The anthropologistFranz Boas and his students promotedrelativism as a "relativist and anti-racist
'social scientific orientation to humandifferences"1 (Handler 1990, 253). Theseearly anthropologists, actively engaged inestablishing anthropology as an academicdiscipline, directed much of their energiesto (if not receiving their inspiration from)events outside their universities:Boasians repeatedly spoke out againstracism and national chauvinism, and infavor of pluralism and interculturaltolerance?in the early 1920s whenAmerican xenophobia reached hystericproportions, during the economicdepression of the 1930s, and duringWorld War II.... Boasian anthropologiststook seriously the duty of the scholarand scientist to make specializedknowledge accessible to the citizens of amodern society (Handler 1990, 253).Now, decades later, we see relativismskewered for contributing to divisivenesswithin our own society, even though it wasoriginally developed and promoted as a tooltoward the formation of a U.S. society thatwould integrate diverse cultural groups onthe basis of mutual respect andunderstanding.The Original Concept of MulticulturalismThe historical social mission pursued by theearly proponents of cultural relativismsuggests that it might be useful for us toreturn to the original concept. What wediscover is that as cultural relativismgained acceptability outside anthropologyand outside the academy, certain of itsfeatures became diluted and misunderstood.I would suggest that by sharpening ourunderstanding and appreciation of culturalrelativism, we can recognize its continuingpromise for helping us cope effectivelywith the challenges of a culturally diverseU.S. society.
Two features of cultural relativism shouldbe underscored in the context of today'sdebates.
First, although cultural relativism forces usto search for a logic of behaviors, values, orperceptions according to the cultural systemof which they are a part, this embedding ofcustom within its own cultural contextshould not be interpreted as leading to theview that cultural differences arearbitrary....Cultural relativism leads us to see thatcustoms are not arbitrary. Through suchthinking, we should be led to explore anewour own customs, which we often take forgranted: how does a particular value ofours, or one of our customary practices,make sense in terms of its contribution tothe larger organization of our lives, to theposition we occupy in society, or to externalecological or material circumstances of ourcommunity? Making our own valuesrelative?viewing them in the largercomparative context of other groups'values-has as much potential forstrengthening our commitments to our ownvalues as for weakening them. Culturalrelativism leads us to recognize that valuesand beliefs are necessary parts of a larger,complex cultural whole on which thecontinued functioning of communities andsocieties, including our own, depends.Thus, cultural relativism and anthropologycan lead to an affirmation of our own wayof life.Second, in encouraging us to see the worldfrom another group's point of view?that is,to understand what behavior, values, andperceptions mean to those who engage in orespouse them?cultural relativism leads notto a moral nihilism, but to a respect for theneed of every human community (includingour own) to have a cultural system bywhich individual and societal values aredefined.Cultural relativism, and the anthropologicalsearch for the sense that behavior makes,helps us recognize the necessity for allpeoples, including groups within oursociety, to have some particular culture,some particular values, beliefs, and customs.
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This recognition provides a basis forunderstanding that the cultural diversitywe are part of in contemporary UnitedStates is neither ephemeral nor arbitrary.Such diversity is inevitable, given both ourhistorical knowledge of the demography ofour citizenry and our anthropologicalunderstanding of the way in which humangroups function....The cultural diversity of the U. S.population is not arguable. It is real. Ourquestion is how to prepare students to livein a society that will continue to becharacterized by cultural differences. Wesimply cannot begin to address this questionwithout cultural relativism. Culturalrelativism is necessary to help understandthe nature of these differences, to recognizethat they are real, that they are likely topersist, and that they are functional. Inthese terms, we must use cultural relativismto help students learn to cross culturalboundaries. As the distinguishedanthropologist of education, John Ogbu, haswritten (1990:428-429, emphasis added):Education in the context of culturaldiversity is a process in which teachersand schools bear the responsibility ofacquiring knowledge of the cultures andlanguages of minority and othernonmainstream students and using suchknowledge to educate the students from
these groups. The other part, whichcomplements the responsibility ofteachers and the schools, is the willing-ness and efforts of students fromdifferent cultural and languagebackgrounds to learn and use thelanguage and culture of the schools.These studenls...must be willing to crosscultural boundaries and this does notrequire them to give up their own culturesand languages...^ true cultural diversitythat promotes the academic success ofminority students and other marginalpopulations is one that permits them tocross cultural and language boundarieswithout feeling threatened.
Elasticity and Flexibility of our Humanity
Finally, cultural relativism underscores anessential feature of our being on which thestruggle to maintain our society depends:the elasticity and flexibility of ourhumanity. We can understand anotherculture and experience a culturallyalternative point of view without losing ourown. In a world of competing viewpoints,and in classrooms where cultural diversity,improperly understood, can lead todivisiveness rather than understanding, weneed to underscore the affirming nature ofcultural relativism.Lawrence B. BreitbordeBeloit College
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("Tales Bones Tell" continued from. p. 6)(femur, tibia, or fibula). The measurementscan then be compared with tables givingranges in relation to sex, age, and so on.Elapsed Time Since DeathTo estimate the postmortem interval fromdeath to discovery in weeks, months, oryears is perhaps the most difficult aspect offorensic anthropology. During the first 24hours after death, the human body goesthrough rigor mortis. Within a few days the
body begins to decompose, and the facialfeatures become unrecognizable. Maggotsare responsible for most of the process ofreducing the body to a skeleton. When thebody is not fully skeletonized, forensicanthropologists or entomologists candetermine time since death by identifyingthe species of insects feeding on the bodyand determining its stage of development(maggots metamorphose from egg to theadult). If the remains are skeletonized, thenthe forensic anthropologist considers thecolor, cracking, and dryness of the bonesand the absence of odor.
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Trauma and DiseaseBlunt and sharp force trauma in boneresults from the impact of a brick, gunshot,or stabbing or slashing weapon. If theindividual was fatally injured and diedbefore the affected bone began to heal, theinjury is designated perimortem, meaningthat it occurred at or near the time ofdeath. Examination of perimortem traumacan suggest the type of implement used and,often, the cause of death. Certain diseasessuch as cancer, syphilis, tuberculosis, andleprosy can also be identified in a skeletonbecause the disease alters the bone.Evidence of Occupational or HabitualActivitiesBone responds to mechanical activity andexercise through growth. Conversely,insufficient activity and immobility lead toa decrease in bone mass. In persons whoengage in repetitive activities for longperiods of time, bones display adaptationsto such activities. Overdevelopment can beseen, for example, in baseball pitchers(humerus), archers (scapula), blacksmiths(humerus), and dancers (feet). Otherexamples include dental grooves fromholding nails between teeth (carpenters),chipped front teeth from opening bobbypins or safety pins, and stress fractures oftoes in persons engaged in martial arts.
Positive Personal IdentificationFrequently, the ultimate goal of a forensicinvestigation is to establish a positiveidentification. The police or medicalauthorities search files of missing personsfor individuals who fit the physicaldescription supplied by the anthropologist(for example, a white female, 25-30 years ofage, who has been missing for one year).Facial photographs and dental and medicalrecords, including radiographs (x-rays), ofsuspected victims are then requested fromfamily, doctors, dentists, and hospitals. Inthe absence of fingerprints, a positiveidentification can be made from compari-son of features revealed in x-ray picturestaken before and after death.
Forensic anthropologists seek unique andindividualizing features in the skeleton,such as a healed broken bone or evidence ofa particular bone disease, and in the teeth,such as the number and shapes of dentalfillings. Most identifications are achievedthrough comparing dental x-rays of amissing person with those of the victim.Unusual dental traits such as chipped frontteeth visible on photographs also provideevidence leading to a positive identifi-cation. When all else fails, a facialreproduction, either in clay or a sketch byan artist, can be produced and the presumedlikeness distributed to police agencies ornews media in an effort to find someonewho recognizes the victim.Forensic anthropologists, with theirspecialized knowledge of comparativeanatomy and skeletal variability, havebecome integral members of homicide andmass disaster teams that travel worldwide.Their expertise in the identification ofdecomposed and skeletonized humanremains has led to the identification ofmany individuals for whom conventionalmeans have not been successful.Further References
Bass, William. Human Osteology: ALaboratory and Field Manual of theHuman Skeleton. Columbia, MI: MissouriArchaeological Society, 1987.Mann, Robert W., and Murphy, Sean P.Regional Atlas of Bone Disease: A Guideto Pathological and Normal Variation inthe Human Skeleton. Springfield: CharlesC. Thomas, 1990.Ubelaker, Douglas H. Human SkeletalRemains: Excavation, Analysis, andInterpretation. 2nd ed. Washington, DC:Taraxacum, 1989.Ubelaker, Douglas H., and Scammell, Henry.Bones: A Forensic Detective's Casebook.Harper-Collins, 1992.Robert MannU.S. Army CentralIdentification LabHickam AFB, Hawaii
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Anthro. Notes Staff: P. Ann Kaupp, Ruth 0. Selig,Alison S. Brooks, JoAnne Lanouette, editors;Robert L. Humphrey, artist.Illustrations, Robert L. Humphrey copyright 1993.