Search Results (5)

Osteological collections are an essential source of information on human biological and cultural variability, providing insights about developmental, evolutionary, and biocultural processes. Among osteological series, documented human osteological collections (DHOC) are especially useful due to the opportunity to control biological parameters such as age-at-death and sex, which are typically unknown in archaeological or forensic cases. Raising ethical concerns about the collection, management, and study of human remains poses anthropologists with renewed responsibilities. These issues become especially pressing when dealing with DHOC. In this contribution, we discuss the scientific value and ethical issues characterizing DHOC using as case study the documented human osteological collections of the University of Bologna. This series includes more than 1000 individuals from Northern Italian and Sardinian cemeteries and is among the largest in Europe. It represents the basis for ongoing research on a large range of methodological studies, especially focused on the reconstruction of biological profile. After outlining the scientific studies performed on this DHOC, we discuss it in the context of the specific legislation featuring the Italian territory. Finally, we highlight some directions where work can be carried out to better balance scientific research, preservation needs, and ethical concerns, stressing the advantages of modern imaging techniques. Full article

Recent years have brought an important increase in the interest in identified human osteological collections in South America. Their number has been systematically growing and their sizes have been expanding, allowing the development of the field of forensic anthropology, among other disciplines, in this region. These collections are used mainly for the validation of international forensic anthropology methods for national and local populations, as well as for the training of professionals and researchers. Despite their growth, important limitation related to the lack of variability in the representativeness of individuals within these collections represents a significant drawback. Likewise, their concentration in only a few countries constitutes a noteworthy concern. This article aims at mapping the existing identified human osteological collections in South America, discussing the advances in the area of forensic anthropology that they have allowed, and reflecting upon their ethical dimensions in the South American context. Full article

The Andronowski Skeletal Collection for Histological Research (ASCHR) comprises the fastest-growing documented modern human skeletal collection in the world developed specifically for histological and imaging research. Initiated in 2017 by Dr. Janna M. Andronowski, the ASCHR provides a resource for the study of skeletal microarchitectural variability with advancing age and between the sexes. The primary objective is to use this unique skeletal archive for histological and imaging research, with the goal of furthering knowledge of human bone biology. Bone procurement has focused on two sites commonly used in histological age-at-death estimation in anthropology: the mid-shaft sixth rib and femoral mid-shaft. The ASCHR consists of over 1200 bone samples from 621 individuals and thousands of imaging files, with age-at-death ranging from 15–105 years. Additional information collected about ASCHR donors includes occupational history; alcohol, tobacco, and drug use history; a health questionnaire; and cause and manner of death. The ASCHR offers a novel opportunity to devise regression formulae for histological age-at-death estimation and answer questions concerning age-related microarchitectural changes and biomechanical processes. It further serves as a skeletal reference database for researchers from various disciplines, including medicine, anthropology, and the biological sciences. Here, we describe the background of the collection, ethical considerations, bone procurement processes, demographic composition, and existing imaging and histological data available to researchers. Our primary aims are to (1) introduce the scientific community to ASCHR, (2) present descriptive and demographic information regarding the collection, and (3) encourage collaboration among national and international researchers interested in human skeletal biology. Full article

Human osteological documented collections (DCs), also referred to as “identified collections”, are a valuable resource in biological and forensic anthropology, as they offer the possibility for hypothesis-driven research on sex and age-at-death estimation methods, human variability, and other morphometric-based parameters of individual identification. Consequently, they feature in many publications addressing the forensic sciences. The paper aims to explore the scientific profiles of DCs via publication using bibliometric data. The Dimensions databases were used to select the DC-related keywords in the title and abstracts of the publications. The search result analysis and extraction were conducted using VOSviewer. A total of 376 articles were found, published between 1969 and 2021 (November). The number of publications has increased over the years, specifically after 2011. The results show that most of the publications are associated with countries such as the United States and Portugal (the latter highlights the University of Coimbra), that the research tends to focus on human biological profiling (e.g., age, sex assessments), and that the journals with the highest numbers of publications were related to forensic sciences. This analysis shows a positive correlation between DC publications and the growth of forensic anthropology in recent years, with a slight shift towards the leading institutions that publish DC-based research. Hence, we can anticipate a change in the institutional leading profiles in the years to come. Full article

Documented skeletal collections are the backbone of forensic anthropology due to their associated biohistories. This paper describes the identified skeletal collections and their relevance in forensic anthropological research, education and training in the US. The establishment of documented skeletal collections in the US can be distinguished into two modus operandi, depending on the stance towards the dead, legislation, and medical and forensic practices. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, anatomists amassed skeletons from cadaver dissections, shaped by European influences. Those skeletons compose the anatomical collections—such as the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection—predominantly representing impoverished and unclaimed individuals. Ethical concerns for the curation and research of African American skeletons without family consent are growing in the US. In contrast, since the 1980s, modern documented skeletal collections originated from body donations to human taphonomy facilities, such as the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. The establishment and testing of osteological methods essential to establish one’s identity—such as age at death and sex—have been developed with skeletons from documented collections. Therefore, the analysis of identified skeletons has been crucial for the development of forensic anthropology in the US. Full article