René Gapert

Sex determination from the foramen magnum: discriminant function analysis in an eighteenth and nineteenth century British sample

The successful identification of the deceased is vital to the progress of any forensic investigation. One of the principal biological traits to be established from skeletal remains is the sex of the individual. This becomes more difficult if only parts of a skeleton are found or if the bones are compromised by physical insults such as fire, explosions or violence. The basal region of the occipital bone is covered by a large volume of soft tissue and is therefore in a relatively well-protected anatomical position, and as such, classification of sex using the occipital bone may prove useful in cases of significantly disrupted remains. The aim of this paper is to evaluate manually recorded morphometric variables of the region of the foramen magnum using both discriminant function analysis and linear regression. The skulls utilised in this study were selected from the eighteenth to nineteenth century documented skeletal collection of St. Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London. Adult human skulls n = 158 (♂82/♀76) were measured to derive statistical functions. The results demonstrated that significant sexual dimorphism is present in the cranial base of the St. Bride’s material. The correctly classified crania within this population ranged from 65.8% for univariate functions to 70.3% for multivariate functions within the cranial sample. Males were correctly classified at 70.7% and females at 69.7% using multivariate functions. The linear regression equations predicted sex in the cranial sample correctly for 76% of the males and 70% for the females using different variables; however, overall highest correct prediction percentage was only 68%. Cross-validation brought the percentage down in some cases, but it was concluded that, overall, the expression of sexual dimorphism in the foramen magnum region within the St. Bride’s population is significantly demonstrable, and therefore, this area of the skull should be considered useful in the identification of sex.

Sex determination from the occipital condyle: discriminant function analysis in an eighteenth and nineteenth century British sample.

Fragmentary human remains compromised by different types of inhumation, or physical insults such as explosions, fires, and mutilations may frustrate the use of traditional morphognostic sex determination methods. The basicranium is protected by a large soft tissue mass comprising muscle, tendon, and ligaments. As such, the occipital region may prove useful for sex identification in cases of significantly fragmented remains. The aims of this paper are to (1) evaluate sexual dimorphism in British cranial bases by manually recorded unilateral and bilateral condylar length and width as well as intercondylar measurements and (2) develop discriminant functions for sex determination for this cranial sample. The crania selected for this study are part of the 18th-19th century documented skeletal collection of St. Brides Church, Fleet Street, London. Adult human skulls (n = 146; male75/female71) were measured to derive statistical functions. Results indicated that expression of sexual dimorphism in the occipital condylar region within the St. Brides population is demonstrable but low. Crossvalidated classification accuracy ranged between 69.2 and 76.7%, and sex bias ranged from 0.3 to 9.7%. Therefore, the use of discriminant functions derived from occipital condyles, especially in British skeletal populations, should only be considered in cases of fragmented cranial bases when no other morphognostic or morphometric method can be utilized for sex determination.

Anthropological analysis of extensive rodent gnaw marks on a human skull using post-mortem multislice computed tomography (pmMSCT)

...There now lay revealed such a horror as would have overwhelmed us had we not been prepared. Through a nearly square opening in the tiled floor, sprawling on a flight of stone steps so prodigiously worn that it was little more than an inclined plane at the centre, was a ghastly array of human or semihuman bones. Those which retained their collocation as skeletons showed attitudes of panic fear, and over all were the marks of rodent gnawing. From ‘The Rats in the Walls (1924)’ – Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890 1937)

Forensic anthropology and radiography in the examination of an unknown mummified hand.

The medical museum collection of the UCD School of Medicine & Medical Science at University College Dublin (UCD) incorporates anatomy specimens, pathology specimens, and physical anthropology specimens. The medical museum collection is not open to the public but may be accessed by medical students, researchers, and academics upon request. The history of each of these collections is linked to the former site of the UCD Medical School at Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin City Centre, established there in the early twentieth century. The Medical School subsequently moved to the Belfield campus on the southern side of the city in 2006, now named UCD School of Medicine & Medical Science (UCD SMMS). The oldest identifiable specimens in the anatomy and physical anthropology collections date to the early twentieth century, while the pathology specimens are of a more recent date, probably mid-twentieth century. During the move from the Earlsfort Terrace campus, a few specimens were discovered which had lost some of their provenance due to old age and damaged catalog entries. One of these is the specimen of a severed hand which forms the subject of investigation in this paper. Specimen description

Non-invasive examination of a skull fragment recovered from a World War Two aircraft crash site

The discovery of human remains dating to the time of the Second World War is a common occurrence in Europe and the Pacific regions. This case report demonstrates the analysis of a bone fragment recovered from a Luftwaffe crash site in Austria during the summer of 2007. Eye-witness statements and official reports were used to reconstruct the historical background of the case. A recovered German military identity tag helped to identify the pilot. Aircraft parts, also discovered at the crash site in 2007, aided the identification of the aircraft type and corroborated the eye-witness reports of the final moments before and during the crash. The bone was analyzed chiefly to establish its human or non-human origin and to identify from which anatomic region the fragment could have arisen. It was identified as part of a human adult skull which exhibited peri-mortem fractures and heat damage as well as post-mortem vegetation staining. The historical background information in connection with the morphological analysis led to the presumptive identification of the cranial fragment as belonging to a downed German pilot.

Occult hemispherectomy: an unusual finding at autopsy

The body of a 45-year-old female was found floating on the surface of the Großer Wannsee (Greater Wannsee, a body of water situated at the Havel River in the Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf) in 1980. The deceased was fully clothed and had been missing for 17 days. She was identified by her brother who had reported her missing as he feared she could have killed herself. The reason he assumed his sister had committed suicide was her break-up from her long-term partner (only a couple of days before she went missing), combined with her history of depression. Staff in the immediate area of the Greater Wannsee confirmed that the woman had been a regular guest at some of the local restaurants. It was also noted that the deceased had shown signs of a left-sided hemiplegia since childhood, with withering of the left arm and a left-sided limp. She had undergone a major head operation approximately 10 years before her death but why she was operated on, or what type of surgery was performed on her, was not communicated by her relatives.

Surprising origin of two carved bones donated to the Buchenwald Memorial Museum

Unidentified bones were donated to the Buchenwald Memorial Museum in Weimar, Germany. The donor thought the bones may have belonged to internees of the concentration camp and had been decoratively carved by camp personnel. Non-destructive forensic anthropological examination was carried out on the bones to identify their possible origin. Comparative human and non-human bones samples were used to determine the provenance of the bones and the anatomical region they may have come from. Literature and internet searches were conducted to trace the origin of the carved motifs on the bones. The bones were determined to belong to the lower limb region of bovids. The carvings were found to correspond with those of existing bone examples found in some museums in the UK. They were traced to German prisoners of war dating to the First World War. An in-depth examination of the donated bones revealed their non-human provenance. It further showed that no link existed between the bones, internees of the concentration camp, and the time of the camp’s existence. It was discovered that they belonged to the period 1914–1918 and form an important part of German prisoner of war history in the UK.

Electrically-induced heat amputation of the hand in a case of fatal electric shock caused by a faulty table lamp

In May 1970 the fully-clothed body of a 51-year-old female was discovered by her son in an apartment in Berlin, Germany. The deceased was found still holding a medium-sized bronze table lamp in her left hand and a smaller reading lamp in her right hand. Both lamps were plugged into a double socket located on one of the walls and were firmly grasped in front of her body. Her son reported that the last time he had seen his mother alive was at her workplace a day before. Forensic examination by the police revealed that the bronze table lamp had a technical fault. According to the son the lamp had been taken for repair around Christmas, 1969. Autopsy findings according to the forensic pathologists’ report

Potential DVI issues pertaining to Luftwaffe interception units toward the end of WWII

In this issue of the journal we have described scene examination and the process of assessment of a fragment of skeletal material taken from a WWII fighter plane crash site [1]. It is of interest that at that late stage in the war with significantly reduced Luftwaffe numbers, three German Sturmjager units, IV.(Sturm)/JG 3, II.(Sturm)/JG 300 and II.(Sturm) JG 4 had orders to ram any bombers as a last resort if they could not be shot down [2]. The pilots who volunteered to be part of these special units had to sign a contract/oath to this effect and the papers with their signatures were kept locked away. Hans Gotze’s commandant, Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz, however, decided against his men carrying out these ramming missions and apparently tore up all signatures and told his pilots that, although they were expected to engage the enemy, they should only take them down in a conventional engagement [2]. Most of these pilots would have been Gotze’s age. We have tried to identify who shot down Gotze’s aircraft. We know from eyewitness reports that he was pursued in a dive and low-level flight—a maneuver only few fighter pilots would have attempted. We researched a list of American pilots who were reported to have taken down enemy planes on 23rd August 1944 and briefly had contact with one of the surviving American pilots. We were able to rule him out as Hans Gotze’s adversary on that day. There are reports of pilots who were more likely to have attempted a dangerous low-level pursuit and we believe whoever the pilot was showed particular bravery and determination to follow Gotze’s plane so close to the ground. According to our research only two or three of the pilots who were in the air that day would fit this description, but all of these were either killed before the end of the war or are still recorded as missing in action. It is likely that aircraft and personnel in other units who followed the ‘‘ramming mission’’ orders would be severely damaged and scattered following mid-air impacts/explosions, and that subsequent recovery of any identifiable remains would be far less likely than in single aircraft impacts.