Reconstructions of Length of Humerus from it’s Fragments - A Preliminary Study in Eastern Indian Population

Abstract

In a demographically diverse, vast and densely populated country like India, the establishment of identity of a deceased assumes great medico-legal importance. It also poses a true challenge to the forensic scientist working in an environment where decomposition and taphonomic process are rapid. Structurally bones resist common degradation and putrefactive changes and remain longer as material for evidential value. Human skeletal remains are found under suspicious circumstances and doctors examining them need to give an opinion in the court of law. One of the important data for identification is the stature. Henceforth, a technique is needed for reconstruction of total length of long bones from their fragments. The current investigation was designed to estimate the total length of humerus using its fragmentary length in a population specific study to employ them in stature formulae for population specific cases and finally to estimate the stature of the individual. After getting institutional ethical committee clearance, the study over 79 humeri revealed linear equation where total length of humerus was used as dependent variable and the different fragmentary length being the independent variables.