Anthropological analysis of bone trauma 100 years after the autopsy

Abstract

When a violent death is suspected, bone trauma is sometimes the only way to evaluate when and how death occurred. However, the study of bone lesions is complex and still has many unanswered questions. Collections of identified cases with bone lesions, whose autopsy reports with known cause of death are available, are important sources of investigation. The present study revisits a collection of 38 calvaria with bone trauma, housed in the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF, I.P.) South Delegation, in Lisbon. The cause of death is known for all of them, while for only 24 of these calvaria autopsy report are available. This work consists in the comparison of the analysis of injuries performed by forensic anthropology, with the analysis of the forensic pathologist at the time of the autopsy (1918 to 1956). This confrontation allows to discuss eventual diagnoses and to verify the limitations of each expertise. A macroscopic analysis was performed on the bony trauma of each calvarium following the standardized recommendations, trying to assess when the injuries happened, the type of injury, the mechanism and whether they were related with the cause and manner of death. The results revealed that even a century after the autopsy, and as expected, it is possible to distinguish between gunshot and sharp force trauma, while blunt force trauma have become more difficult to evaluate due to taphonomic changes. Besides, the cause and manner of death were considered indeterminate in the majority of the cases during the anthropological analysis. This work showed that both analyses have flaws, and that together, they can overcome the challenges created by bone trauma.