Disciplines
Biological and Physical Anthropology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Michele Kumar - Email: mkumar1@students.kennesaw.edu
Title: Examination of Blunt Force Skeletal Injuries as a Result of Falls from Heights
Damage to the skeleton can be extensive with falls from heights. Using measurements such as the height of the fall, the weight of the individual to calculate acceleration due to gravity, velocity of the launch speed, and the take-off distance in cases of homicide or suicide, certain occurrences can be predicted (Cross 2006:93). The position of the body, in conjunction with the surface and angle of impact can identify skeletal trauma in cases where the manner of death is unknown. Although forensic anthropologists do not determine cause of death, this type of information is useful in understanding fractures to bone in order to distinguish between antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem trauma. Determining whether cranial trauma is due to the fall or to a fatal blow to the head can be assessed using a definition proposed by Kremer et al. (2008:718), which states that identifying the area known as the “hat brim line,” (HBL) to be only the area between the G line and the EAM line using the Frankfort horizontal plane which proves beneficial to forensic anthropologists. The two lines are horizontal and parallel, where the G line is the area passing through the superior margin of the glabella, and the inferior EAM line passes through the external auditory meatus and through the upper margin of the ear canal at the orbitomeatal plane. This is helpful in cases where only a dry skeleton is available. In cases with dry skeletal remains, the trauma to bones can be seen more easily, but the HBL is more difficult to discern. Fractures on other bones are seen with greater frequency depending on whether the death was a homicide, an accident, or a suicide.
Cross, Rod
2006 Fatal Falls from a Height: Two Case Studies. Journal of Forensic Sciences 51(1):93-99.
Kremer, Célia, Stéphanie Racette, Charles-Antoine Dionne, and Anny Sauvageau
2008 Discrimination of Falls and Blows in Blunt Head Trauma: Systematic Study of the Hat Brim Line Rule in Relation to Skull Fractures. Journal of Forensic Sciences 53(3):716-719.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Geography & Anthropology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Alice Fazlollah, MS
Included in
Examination of Blunt Force Skeletal Injuries as a Result of Falls from Heights
Michele Kumar - Email: mkumar1@students.kennesaw.edu
Title: Examination of Blunt Force Skeletal Injuries as a Result of Falls from Heights
Damage to the skeleton can be extensive with falls from heights. Using measurements such as the height of the fall, the weight of the individual to calculate acceleration due to gravity, velocity of the launch speed, and the take-off distance in cases of homicide or suicide, certain occurrences can be predicted (Cross 2006:93). The position of the body, in conjunction with the surface and angle of impact can identify skeletal trauma in cases where the manner of death is unknown. Although forensic anthropologists do not determine cause of death, this type of information is useful in understanding fractures to bone in order to distinguish between antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem trauma. Determining whether cranial trauma is due to the fall or to a fatal blow to the head can be assessed using a definition proposed by Kremer et al. (2008:718), which states that identifying the area known as the “hat brim line,” (HBL) to be only the area between the G line and the EAM line using the Frankfort horizontal plane which proves beneficial to forensic anthropologists. The two lines are horizontal and parallel, where the G line is the area passing through the superior margin of the glabella, and the inferior EAM line passes through the external auditory meatus and through the upper margin of the ear canal at the orbitomeatal plane. This is helpful in cases where only a dry skeleton is available. In cases with dry skeletal remains, the trauma to bones can be seen more easily, but the HBL is more difficult to discern. Fractures on other bones are seen with greater frequency depending on whether the death was a homicide, an accident, or a suicide.
Cross, Rod
2006 Fatal Falls from a Height: Two Case Studies. Journal of Forensic Sciences 51(1):93-99.
Kremer, Célia, Stéphanie Racette, Charles-Antoine Dionne, and Anny Sauvageau
2008 Discrimination of Falls and Blows in Blunt Head Trauma: Systematic Study of the Hat Brim Line Rule in Relation to Skull Fractures. Journal of Forensic Sciences 53(3):716-719.