Alix Wood - The Unmarked Grave: Be a Forensic Anthropologist

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Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wood, Alix.

Title: The unmarked grave: be a forensic anthropologist / Alix Wood.

Description: New York : Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2018. | Series: Crime solvers | Includes index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781538206409 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781538206348 (library bound) | ISBN 9781538206225 (6 pack)

Subjects: LCSH: Forensic anthropology--Juvenile literature. | Victims of crimes--Identification--Juvenile literature. | Criminal investigation--Juvenile literature. | Forensic sciences--Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC GN69.8 W66 2018 | DDC 614.17--dc23

First Edition

Published in 2018 by

Gareth Stevens Publishing

111 East 14th Street, Suite 349

New York, NY 10003

Copyright 2018 Alix Wood Books

Produced for Gareth Stevens by Alix Wood Books

Designed by Alix Wood

Editor: Eloise Macgregor

Consultant: Stacey Deville, MFS, Texas Forensic Investigative Consultants

Photo credits: Cover, right freestockphotos, all other images are in the public domain

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except by reviewer.

Printed in the United States of America

CPSIA compliance information: Batch #CS17GS For further information contact Gareth Stevens, New York, New York at 1-800-542-2595.

Contents

Call the Forensic Anthropologist

Meet a Forensic Anthropologist

Specialist Skills

SCIENCE DETECTIVE Know Your Bones

Working as a Team

SCIENCE DETECTIVE Finding Buried Evidence

A Skulls Secrets

Telltale Teeth

Any More Bones?

SCIENCE DETECTIVE Scattered Skeleton

Who Was the Victim?

SCIENCE DETECTIVE Can Bones Tell You Height?

Search for a Cause of Death

SCIENCE DETECTIVE You Are What You Eat!

Meeting Face to Face

SCIENCE DETECTIVE Can You Identify the Victim?

A Vital Clue

SCIENCE DETECTIVE Recording Evidence

Preparing Evidence

The Verdict

Glossary and Answers

Want to Be a Forensic Anthropologist?

Further Information

Index

Call the Forensic Anthropologist

On a sunny March afternoon, two construction workers are laying cable along the side of the highway. One worker, Steve, calls his co-worker over. He has found an obstruction, and doesnt like the look of it. They brush away some more earth, and find what looks like a human skull...

DISPATCHER: Emergency 911. What is the location of your emergency?

STEVE: Im Steve Harrison. Im working on the highway improvements at Saunderstone.

DISPATCHER: What is your emergency, caller?

STEVE: We think we may just have found a human skeleton.

DISPATCHER: What makes you think you have found a skeleton?

STEVE: I can see a skull staring up at me...

Case File

Date: March 19, 2017

Unit Number: 574

Reporting Officers Notes

2:05 pm: Dispatch received a 911 call about a skeleton found near the Saunderstone highway. The caller identified himself as Steve Harrison.

Unit 574 was dispatched and arrived at the scene at 2:37 pm. The officers found what appeared to be a human skull. They roped off the scene and asked for backup and medical assistance.

3:05 pm: Detectives Karen Smithson and Kuan Wu arrived at the scene. The Crime Scene Investigator team was called and arrived at 3:22 pm. They examined the skull. It certainly appeared to be human. It had also clearly been in the ground a long time. They realized that they needed to call in a specialist.

3:55 pm: The forensic anthropologist, David Marek, is called. He is on his way.

Solve It!

Why might investigators rush to a crime scene if the victim had been dead a long time?

a)	the victim may have been buried more recently, so there still may be important evidence nearby
b)	theres no reason to rush

Answers on page 45

The detectives make sure the construction team stops working near the area. They need to protect any evidence. They declare the area a crime scene. No one may enter or leave without permission. The medical examiner arrives to examine the skull, and sees that the person has been dead a long time. This case needs a forensic anthropologist.

Meet a Forensic Anthropologist

A text message comes through on David Mareks cell phone. He is busy teaching a forensic anthropology class at the university where he works. He looks down at the message. A body has been found at a construction site across the city. He texts back that hell be there as soon as he can. Its almost the end of class.

As the last student leaves, he grabs his keys and heads to his car. His equipment is always ready in the trunk, just in case.

Solve It!

Why do you think David is wearing glasses in this picture?

a)	to keep dust from flicking into his eyes
b)	because he cant see very well
c)	it is a sunny day

Answers on page 45

Personnel File

Name:David Marek

Job: Forensic Anthropologist

Education: Studied for a degree in biology, then studied to be a Master of Forensic Anthropology and a Doctor of Physical Anthropology

Other jobs: Teaches forensic anthropology at a university

Career:

David has worked as a consultant for the police department for six years.

Favorite school subjects: Biology and history.

Favorite part of his job: You never know what the day will bring.

Worst part of his job: Some of the sights and smells can upset your stomach!

Most interesting case: David helped identify a victim buried way back in around 1680! The odd way the body had been buried led David to believe he had been murdered and dumped. The injuries to his bones showed he had a hard life and a violent death. David discovered a servant had gone missing in the area in around 1670. It is likely the body was his!

Specialist skills

F orensic anthropology is a specialist job. That means that not many people have the skills that David has learned. It takes years of training to become a forensic anthropologist. Forensic means to do with the law. Anthropology is the study of humans. A forensic anthropologist is a scientist who helps the police to identify human remains, often just from their bones.