Forensic Anthropology

Abstract

Previous articleNext article FreeCurrent ApplicationsForensic AnthropologyE.R.WaymanE.R.Wayman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreAn Anthropological Education through Fictional AnthropologyAs a forensic anthropologist for Quebecs Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciares et de Mdecine Lgale and an anthropology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Temperance Brennan has seen more than her share of crime scenes and decomposed bodies. This seasoned professional is a fictional characterstar of popular mystery novels such as Dj Dead, Grave Secrets, and Cross Bonescreated by Kathy Reichs, a novelist and the realworld counterpart of the fictional Brennan.Emily Deschanel, who portrays Temperance Brennan, prepares for a scene on the set of the TV show Bones.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointThroughout most of her 30year career, Reichs has applied her knowledge of forensic anthropology to identifying bodies not only in North Carolina and in Quebec but also in New York City after 9/11 and in Rwanda and Guatemala. Now she writes internationally bestselling novels that not only entertain her millions of readers but also educate them about the field of anthropology.Reichs began writing her first novel in 1994; after becoming a full professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, she felt free to try something new. In her novels she has created a character whose professional life parallels her own. Each of my books, Reichs explained, springs from a case or something I have done. For example, in Deadly Decisions Brennan helps solve the murders of people killed by motorcycle gangs in Quebec, and in Death du Jour she helps the Catholic Church to verify the bones of a proposed saint and then stumbles onto cult killingsboth of which Reichs has done herself.Reichs not only draws on reallife cases for inspiration for her plots but also uses her expertise to enhance her stories with details that provide readers with an introduction to forensic anthropology. The real challenge in writing fiction, Reichs explained, is keeping the science accurate, but short, and also entertaining. To accomplish this, she includes detail not just for the sake of descriptive atmosphere but to further her story. For example, in Dj Dead Brennan explains to a police detective how she determined what kind of saw dismembered a body, detailing how she could use the details of the cut marks to determine a variety of characteristics of the saw that was used to make them. The similarity of the ways in which several victims bodies were dismembered and mutilated leads her to the conclusion that one serial killer was responsible for all of these crimes. In the same book Brennan uses bitemark analysis to determine that the marks left behind on a piece of cheese in the killers apartment do not match those of a suspect held in custody.The success of Reichss novels has led to the creation of an American TV show, Bones, based on the Brennan character. Although Reichs does not write scripts for the show, she is a producer and acts as a scientific adviser, reading each script to ensure scientific accuracy. As in the books, forensic details are incorporated into each story. In the pilot episode, a decomposed body is discovered in a pond in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and Brennan is called upon to help identify it. She determines that the victim is a woman (from the shape of the pelvis) approximately 1823 years old (from the epiphyseal fusion of the long bones) who probably enjoyed playing tennis (from the wear on the shoulder bones, indicating that the victim had bursitis). Later, with the aid of an entomologist colleague, Brennan determines that the victim has been dead for at least two summers and a winter on the basis of the larval stages of the various species of flies found on the corpse.Reichs's books are published in 29 languages, and during Fall 2005 and Winter 2006 Nielsen Media Research estimated that an average of 8.4 million viewers tuned in to Bones each week. By presenting science in an entertaining and realistic way, Reichs is not only educating people but also probably inspiring many undergraduates to enroll in introductory anthropology classes. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 47, Number 4August 2006 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/506284 Views: 665Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Annie R. Specht Killer Corn and Capitalist Pigs: Forensic Noir and Television Portrayals of Modern Agricultural Technology, Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 35, no.22 (Dec 2013): 152–161.https://doi.org/10.1111/cuag.12018