A Comparison of Forensic Anthropology to Bioarchaeology

Forensic Anthropology is the field of study that uses the analysis of human skeletal remainsto extract as much information as possible with the goal of identifying the circumstances surrounding the death of the individual(s) being analyzed.Bioarchaeologyis the field that seeks to provide information about human life or the environment in the past by studying bones and other biological materials found in archaeological remains. This poster will illustratetheanalyticdifferences between these twofields by comparing the two types of analyses that would be used foracase studyof human remains from the MCIG research project at UWM(MCIG stands for the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Cemetery Project). This research includes washing and stabilizing the remains from this site, and will require careful analysis of the remains chosen for study. The individualwill beexaminedand will be documented according toforensic anthropological evidence analysisas well as being documented according to rules of analysis forbioarchaeologicalevidence. This is important and helpfulwhen looking at details like age, sex, health and nutritional information, as well as othercharacteristicsofthe individuals being studied. This project will give examples of scientific methods and views on understanding human remains and the details surrounding deathin comparison tothe way human remains can be studiedin order to provide background on what their lives may have been like. They are now bones to be cleaned and studied, they were once parts ofa living human,andthey shouldbe shown respect and be learned from, that is the goal of thisproject.