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L¿INDIVIDUAZIONE E LA CARATTERIZZAZIONE DEI SITI DI OCCULTAMENTO DI RESTI UMANI IN AMBITO FORENSE: APPLICAZIONI GEOPEDOLOGICHE E GEOARCHEOLOGICHE
Full text linkIn a forensic scenario one of the most complex situations is the search for buried human remains, which in Italy is often tied to cases involving organised crime.
The burial of a body has an impact on the environment directly above and around the area in which the grave has been excavated. If the environmental alterations can be recognized and interpreted correctly they can supply information regarding the site of burial and location of the body.
The study was performed in order to establish the impact that a disturbance, due to the excavation of a grave, and to verify the interaction between a buried, decomposing body and the environment directly above and around the area of the burial due to its presence.
The following study was conducted in the Ticino National Park in Lombardy, northern Italy. The chosen area for the study is of alluvial origin and characterized by the presence of a medium gravel to sand sediments covered by a very thin layer of organic topsoil. Two sub areas were singled out for the burial of 11 pigs, deceased for reasons not related to the study, weighing between 48 and 90 kg.
The sub areas are adjacent to one another and have been denominated area A and area B. Area A corresponds to a small clearing in the woods with a grassy surface. Area B is a wooded area of which the surface is made up of a layer of decomposed foliage with scarce undergrowth.
In each of the two areas, with the help of a small excavator, 6 pits were dug of which 5 were actual burials and 1, for purposes of comparison, was left empty apart from a metal plaque placed in the bottom that served as a target during the georadar survey.
All but one of the burials in area A were single, whereas two subjects were placed in one of the pits to simulate a double victim clandestine grave. All of the burials in area B were single.
The burial of all subjects in both areas was carried out in the spring of 2009: in area A all 6 individuals were buried at a depth of approximately 100 cm (pigs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 which were punt in the same grave, and 6), in area B 5 individuals were buried at a depth of approximately 80 cm (pigs 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11). The subjects were buried at two different depths in order to create a realistic scenario in the wooded area B. The presence of tree roots obstructed the digging of a grave beyond a depth of 80 cm, and therefore this level was not exceeded. The depth of burial in area A amounted to 110 cm.
The exhumation of the carcasses in both areas was programmed at fixed intervals: the first after a period of 7 weeks in both Areas , the second after a period of 29 weeks in Area A and 35 in Area B, the third after a period of 56 weeks in Area A and 54 in Area B, the fourth after a period of 102 weeks in Area A and 103 in Area B and the fifth after a period of 130 weeks in Area A and 128 weeks in Area B.
The surface above and around the burial was periodically monitored with a view to verifying alterations, both in the morphology of the surface and the re-colonization of the vegetation directly above the grave.
The subterranean observation of the burials was monitored by means of ground penetrating radar (GPR), the chosen instrument being a Pulse Ekko Pro. Geophysical surveys were carried out on all burials before the trial started, a week after the deposition of the animals and subsequently, shortly before each of the exhumation dates. The exhumed corpses of the animals were finally subjected to autopsy in order to define the various degrees of decomposition during the entire period of the project according to the ADD method (Accumulated Degree-Days).
Regarding the macroscopic aspects of the graves in the grassy area A, results demonstrate that also after a longer period the surface presents signs of disturbance and the graves remain visible to the naked eye. This is due mainly to the fact that the repopulation of the vegetation in and around the graves progresses in a non-intensive manner. The scenario in the wooded area B is quite different. Just one month after the burial of the animals the surface presents a uniform appearance due to the continuous coverage of leaves shed by surrounding trees that make the graves and the original surface from which they were cut.
Results show that the GPR technology can clearly detect an anomaly within the deposition site during all the experimental period; the depth of the sites seem not to be relevant for the their detection, probably because the burials occur within sediments with the same origin. The decomposition proved to modify the detectability of the anomaly, as pointed out by the correlation existing between ADD score from each sample and the corresponding evidences provided by GPR. The difference in volume identified by means of GPR appears to be proportionate to the process of decomposition of the subject. The consistent loss of fluids and the re-compaction of the backfill of the grave lead, eventually, to the almost complete loss of a geophysical signature.
The study has therefore demonstrated that geophysical tools may provide a useful indication for detection of burials; the need for a multidisciplinary approach to the search and recovery of buried corpses has been stressed as well. The next studies should focus on the subjective interpretation of the GPR report and the detectability of burials
The first anthropological study of the victims of World War I
No full textIn Italy many hundreds of victims of both armies who fought WWI still attend to be recovered and, if possible, identified and given back to their relatives. This study has as its objective to carry out a correct recovery, anthropological analysis and possible identification of these soldiers. Our plan has been elaborated so that it may involve various experts of different disciplines (archeologists, historians, antropologists, but also genetists and entomologists). So far, in this research project, 35 recovered skeletons have been studied. Thus the biological profile was defined (sex, age, stature and ancestry) then pathologies as well as trauma. The first results show the presence of adult men but also of adolescents. The subjects show diseases of a degenerative type (arthrosis, reumatoide arthritis), as well as perimortal lesions linked to blunt trauma, explosions, or due bullet wounds
The most suitable age to go to War: the case of Monte Cengio
No full textThe presentation aims at exposing the results of anthropological study of skeletal dating back to the First World War, with special attention to the epidemiological data. An analysis of traumatic lesions was performed as well
Minorenne o maggiorenne? : Differenti specialisti e non addetti a confronto nella valutazione di materiale pedopornografico
No full textApplication of differentiation methods between postmortal and perimortal lesions to skeletrized human material
No full textIntroduction: In the analysis of bone fragments, searching for any lesion and ascertaining if it is occurred before, during, or after death have a great importance; although, the diagnosis between perimortal and postmortal lesions is made difficult by the similar bone structure affected by lesions. Fractures made near death occur in bones still rich in fibroelastic tissue and cells, whereas in postmortal lesions fractures occur in bones which have lost their fibroelastic and cellular contents, and therefore are less resistant and more easily broken. Three important characteristics have to be considered in order to establish when fracture is occurred: colour of edge, linearity of the fracture’s fissure and bone’s elasticity. The fracture’s edge and the surrounding bone tissue are similar in colour in perimortal lesions, whereas the edge is darker than bone’s section in postmortal lesions (in this case in fact soil blackens only the fracture’s fissure). Another useful parameter is the shape of the fissure, which is more irregular in perimortal lesions (the so-called “green wood lesions”) than in postmortal ones. Moreover a great importance has the presence of bone spicules, observed in perimortal lesions, which occurred in bone with a normal fibroelastic contents, but are absent in bones affected by postmortal lesions. This experimental study aims at pointing out the differences between postmortal lesions on cemeterial human bones and a group of cemeterial bones put in moistened soil.
Methods: 19 femurs and 40 pairs of ribs taken from cemeterial bones were divided into two groups (each group included 40 ribs and 19 halves of femurs cut in the middle by hacksaw): a control group was subjected to contusion (by hammer) and blade lesions (by billhook). In the other group bones’ fragments were buried into small plastic basins filled up with soil, and then left in open air; basins were filled with water every day. Bones remained buried for different periods of time: 30 days, 45 days, 60 days, 90 days.
Then the bones were drawn out of the basins and damaged with the same tools used in the control group: the new contusion and blade lesions were photographed and described with 5 parameters: irregularity of fracture’s edges, flattening of borders, number of bone spicules, crash resistance, colour of fracture’s fissure.
For each parameter a score from 1 to 5 was established.
Results: Results showed an increase in score of all the different parameters with time, both in femurs and in rib bones, affected by contusion and blade lesions as well, except the colour of fracture’s fissure, which didn’t change considerably; therefore, this is the only reliable parameter useful in the diagnosis between perimortal and postmortal lesions.
Conclusions: The macroscopic analysis demonstrated an increase in similarity between lesions in the samples buried in wet soil and perimortal lesions with time, and this phenomenon is caused probably by the higher hydration of samples which longer remained under soil; this is more clear in rib bones, probably because of the lower thickness and the higher absorption of water. The wet soil may have increased surface elasticity of bone structure, with consequent jagged edges, high number of bone spicules, and irregular borders, characteristics of perimortal lesions; nevertheless the change in colour of fracture’s fissure, important diagnostic marker between postmortal and perimortal lesions, never occurred in samples put in wet soil, and therefore is the most important parameter in valuation of bone remains. Crash resistance resulted too much affected by external unverified variable
Il ruolo dell’antropologo forense dal recupero alla diagnosi di causa di morte: un case report
No full textLa presentazione mira ad esporre le applicazioni delle metodiche di antropologia forense dalla fase di recupero alla ricostruzione della causa di morte in un caso reale
Analyses morphologiques et chimiques des traumatismes contondants, coupants et balistiques sur les os brûlés
No full textThe presentation aims at exposing the morphological and chemical characteristics of trauma from different origin on burnt bone
Applicazione delle anulazioni di cemento per la determinazione dell'età di resti umani
No full textScopo di tale lavoro è verificare l'applicabilità, l'accuratezza e la precisione di tre differenti metodi per la valutazione dell'età biologica: il conteggio delle anulazioni del cemento radicolare, il metodo di Lamendin e quello di Gustafson-Johanson. Per il metodo delle anulazioni del cemento sono stati utilizzati 194 denti decalcificati e non, colorati istologicamente mediante Ematossilina-Eosina, von Kossa e Tricromica di Masson; tale metodo risulta essere quello con il maggior coefficiente di correlazione ed ha inoltre restituito una maggiore precisione, mentre a suo sfavore gioca un tempo di preparazione dei campioni piuttosto lungo. Il metodo è stato testato anche su materile di natura archeologica. Sia il metodo di Lamendin che il Gustafson-Johanson, tendono a sovrastimare l'età entro i 40 anni ed a sottostimarla al di sopra dei 40, ed entrambi i metodi si dimostrano più accurati in un range d'età compreso tra i 35 ed i 45 anni, quello di Gustafson-Johanson è leggermente più preciso, mentre il Lamendin è certamente più semplice da applicare per i non esperti
Standardizing 3D-3D facial superimposition for identification from next generation video surveillance systems: a new challenge for forensic anthropology and digital image experts
No full textThe identification of culprits from videosurveillance systems brings about relevant problems for what concerns the reliability of comparison and quantification of the degree of match between the culprit and the suspect. The actual videosurveillance give only 2D images of the culprit, which can be compared to a 3D model of the suspect’s face in 2D-3D superimposition. However, in the next future the videosurveillance systems will provide a 3D image of the filmed persons, which may allow the operator to perform 3D-3D superimposition.
This study aims at exposing a pilot study based on 10 male subjects: the face from each individual underwent two acquisitions by stereophotogrammetry. On each 3D facial model, 9 landmarks (right and left: en, ex, ch: midline: se, gn, prn) were identified by VAM® software; the acquisitions of each individual were then superimposed with the models of all the other subjects in order to reduce the distance between the corresponding points. The RMS value (Root Mean Square) between the two models was then calculated. When the two superimposed models belonged to the same individual, RMS value was in mean 1.58 mm (SD: 0.61 mm), whereas when the two models were taken from different persons, the same value was 4.54 mm (SD: 2.02 mm) with a statistically significant (p<0.0001).
This pilot study shows that the judgment of identification based on 3D-3D superimposition may provide reliable results. The improvement specific methods of 3D-3D comparison may provide in the next future relevant advantages in this field of forensic anthropology
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