Forensic Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of the full scope of human diversity and the application of that knowledge to the help of people of different backgrounds understanding one another (K. Guest). Anthropology comes from the root word Anthropos meaning “human” and the suffix –logos meaning “thought.” Both parts of Anthropology are both taken from Greek words. Anthropology focuses on the holistic approach of culture (or the big picture) (K. Guest). Anthropology began in the last century and arose from the need to identify modern cases of unidentified human remains (University of Tennessee). Most Anthropologists focus on applied anthropology.

Applied anthropology is when an anthropologist works outside of the academic setting to apply the strategies and

An example of media portrayal would be the very popular show Bones on TVNETWORK. While these shows are entertaining this portrayal of Forensic Anthropology is not entirely accurate. Forensic Anthropology is really much more than that. A forensic anthropologist, Fredy A. Peccerelli combines elements of pathology, archaeology and anthropology to solve crimes he works with law enforcement on. He has spent most of his time exhuming bodies from Guatemala. Mr. Peccerelli says that “What we do is all about life” and that “It’s all about people. This is about applying scientific knowledge for everyday human issues” (C. Dreifus). He and many of his colleagues believe that the bones are the ones that tell the story while the anthropologists are just the means for them to do so (C. Dreifus).

Conclusion

Forensic anthropology is a fairly new branch of anthropology. Physical or biological anthropologists who specialize in forensics primarily focus their studies on the human skeleton (ABFA). Forensic Anthropology has helped to understand the people involved in World War 2, the Korean War, and other events such as the previously mentioned 9/11 attach (PBS). Forensic Anthropology is also used to assist many local law enforcement agencies to identify bones that are located with an unknown identity. We may have never had answers to some of these events without the application of Forensic