Academic Major: Anthropology
Title: The Use of Mandible to Profile Forensic Remains
Skeletal remains remanded from a taxidermy shop in North Country by New York States Forensic Investigation Unit in Ray Brook, NY were presented to Dr. Nasser Malit for further investigation. These skeletal remains were presumed to be humans and needed further determination of what or who they may be. The bones were recovered from within the shop and were not excavated, leaving them with no link to the property.
For this project, I will be focusing on the study of lower jaws or mandibles to profile or characterize the forensic remains housed in the Department of Anthropology. Profiling involves the determination of ancestry, sex, age, and other characteristics of skeletal remains. I will use traditional methods in osteology to guide my study. For instance, my project will use measurements and other non-metric traits to accomplish my goal. Measurement instruments such as the mandibulometer and the digital calipers allow one to get measurement dimensions that are useful in ancestry and sex estimations. Dental calipers are also used in measuring teeth to determine the sex of an individual. I will also record pathologies such as dental fillings, cavities, tooth extractions, calculus, or any abnormalities within the mandibles for detailed identification. For me, this project would be something that I am passionate about because I really enjoy learning about humans, how we are built, and what make s us different from each other. I have also been interested in learning about violent crimes and how they are solved. Detective work is an area of work I am interested in upon graduation. I feel this project won't only be very interesting and fun for me, but also very beneficial to my future.
At the project's conclusion, I will make a poster or do podium presentations of my results at the Bioarchaeologists Northeastern Regional Dialogue (October 2024), the Learning and Research Fair (Spring 2024), and the Presidential Scholars Colloquium. I will also keep a journal of my research work and publish it in the Collegiate Anthropologist, our department's journal.