Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 9.1
Close-up of mid-face of cranium, anterior-oblique view, illustrating irregular fracture margin of
both nasal bones and the smoother fracture margin of the maxilla at the left lateral nasal aperture.
breakage of nasal bones, particularly the right nasal, appeared to have a punctate quality that
is not generally characteristic of blunt force trauma to the nose and could be interpreted as
more consistent with the damage caused by carnivore tooth puncture. Although this
breakage is not typical of the “classic” facial damage resulting from interpersonal violence,
neither is it typical of carnivore gnawing. Carnviores will preferentially scavenge the facial
region (
Haglund, 1997
), but the utter absence of tooth scoring, tooth punctures, or other signs
of gnawing on the facial skeleton or elsewhere on the cranium is not diagnostic of carnivore
scavenging.
The anterior maxillary dentition also exhibited damage. The right central incisor was
absent, and the bone of the anterior jaw was broken around the margin of the tooth root.
See
Figure 9.2
. The left central incisor showed similar bone breakage along the outline of
the tooth root, although this tooth was still in place. This type of breakage is consistent
with tooth avulsion resulting from a blow to the mouth, in which the anterior teeth are
levered out at the roots by force applied to the tooth crowns. However, the anterior alveolar
bone on this individual was exceedingly thin and fragile, so that we could not rule out the
possibility that this breakage resulted fromweathering and drying during the period of post-
mortem exposure. Furthermore, this type of dental damage could also result from rough
postmortem handling of the body, which was found under heavy logs.
The damage to the nasal region is consistent with either perimortem trauma or carnivore
modification, although the pattern is not highly typical of either. The damage to the anterior
alveolar bone indicates blunt force applied to the front teeth resulting in avulsion, which
could be related either to traumatic insult to the victim's face at or near the time of death,
or to postmortem damage from transporting and attempting to conceal the body. The co-
occurrence of these two forms of damage increases the likelihood that these are both skeletal
indicators of traumatic insult to the face of the victim at or near the time of death. Taken in
conjunction with the clothing bound about
the neck and the apparent attempts at
