Unit 6 Text Questions

Review Questions

1. What is liver mortis? How might this reveal information about the time of death?
Liver mortis is the setting of blood in the lower part of the body. This process starts right after death and reaches its max at about 8 – 12 hours after death. This isn’t the best way to determine the time of death, it tells investigators in some cases whether the body has been moved after the person has died.
2. What three aspects does a forensic autopsy seek information about? Describe each of these aspects?
The three spots that an autopsy looks for about the cause of death are the mechanisms of death and the manner of death. The cause of death is the medical problem that leads to death, as in blunt force trauma, blood loss, a gunshot wound or internal bleeding. The mechanism of death pertains to any instrument or weapon used in a death, like a knife or gun. The manner of death for an autopsy is often suicide or homicide, as opposed to disease or other natural causes.
3. How can digestion rates give information to forensic scientists about the time of death?
Forensic pathologists use the information of ceased food that was eaten during the autopsy to see how far along the digestive process of the food has traveled. The size of the meal and where it is in the digestive process can help identify the time of death.
4. What is mummification?
The drying of the body and its tissues.
5. How can human bones give forensic scientists an indication of age? Describe some of the aspects that would give this information.
Determining the age of the individual becomes harder the older the individual was. The age of a childs remains can be identified within a year or two of their age at the time of death. The length of the long bones and teeth present are usually used to age the bones of children. For adults, the wear on permanent teeth can give scientists the age of the person within ten years. Even though the wear on teeth can vary on the types of food the person ate in their lifetime. The condition of the bones may also give scientists an idea of the person’s age, with the wear in joints or arthritis can tell of greater age than the bones.
Critical Thinking Questions

1. Imagine that you are at a crime scene. You find skeletal remains, but the skeleton is not complete as some of the smaller bones are missing. The bones are within a twenty feet radius. Based on this information, what would you be able to ascertain about the time of death and the individual who was killed?
I would think that the bones have been there for at least a year, since some of the smaller bones are missing. From the skull and pelvic bones I could tell the gender of the individual. I may also be able to estimate from how old the person was but it would be hard since they have been there for at least a year.
2. Out of the different methods to help determine the time of death, which one do you think is most effective? Why?
I think the most effective methods to help determine the time of death is rigor mortis. I think this because, generally it’s the length between 6 and 24 hours after death, and this is one only thing that can affect it which is temperature.
3. Do you think you would like to participate in an autopsy? Why or why not?
Yes, I would like to participate in an autopsy; because it would be interesting to see what a body can tell you as to how it died.
4. If you were a forensic anthropologist and were studying human remains, what information would you look for in the bones? Why would this information be helpful?
Some information I would look for in bones would be how old were they, the sex, physical characteristics, and any information on the possible cause of death. This information would also help figure out if it was a murder or not and who they belonged to.
5. What can the distribution of bones tell a forensic scientist? What do you think would be the most challenging aspect of collecting skeletal remains at a crime scene?
The distribution of bones at a crime scene can also help the investigators narrow down the time of death. I think the most challenging aspect of collecting the skeletal remains at a scene would be making sure you got all of the bones , didn’t mess any of them up so that it wouldn’t mess up the outcome of the test.