History of Trauma Analysis in FA

• Historical trends in trauma anaylsis

  • Trauma analysis is a relatively new component of FA case work
  • Krogman (1962) and Stewart (1979) both define the role of the FA as 'identification of human bone and the development of a biological profile'
  • Byers (2002) has the analysis of trauma taken equal footing with age, sex, ancestry etc.
• Eras of FA

  • Pioneering era: pre-WW2. Characterised by anatomists and physical anthropologists consulting on forensic cases without formal instruction, research or positions
  • Formative era: 1940's - early 1970's. FA as a subfield of anthropology begins to emerge with recognition by government agencies and the medicolegal community
  • Professionalisation ear: lat 1970's - 1990. Era begins with the founding of the physical anthropology section of the AAPs and creation of the ABFA- characterised by an increase in professional FA training, research and practise
• Eras of FA

  • Standardisation era: 1990- present. Era characterised by the establishment of FA as its own discipline and the broadening of the scope of FA work
  • Recent advancements include certification of FA in the UK
• History of traumatic analysis

  • Was not until the professional era that trauma analysis in FA became mainstream
  • The early publications on trauma ananalysis by FA are case based studies
  • Begining in the late 1980's systematic skeletal trauma research began
  • Publication of landmark book chapter (Berryman and Symes 1998)
  • Further major trauma publications have followed: Galloway (1999)
• History

  -Increased collaboration

  -Trauma is now classified according to the principles of:

  • Biomechanics
  • Pathology
  • Anthropology