ID #1288386 Bag ID V 13th February 2012 Sergeant Adam Dalgliesh Northeast Valley Police Station Dear Sergeant Dalgliesh,

The bag of bones Mr Montana provided contained nine bones, eight of which were human, possibly belonging to a minimum two individuals, one female and one male, both adult.

The bones found are as follows: an occipital and temporal bone, both from the skull of a female, a cervical vertebra, a fibula, a clavicle, a hipbone, a metacarpal from the pinky finger, and a calcaneus, as well as an unidentifiable non-human bone. All except the occipital bone had varying degrees of post-mortem damage due to abrasion.

Characteristics on the occipital and temporal bone, such as a gracile nuchal crest, lead me to estimate that these two bones were from a female body. The clavicle is significantly smaller relative to the fibula and hipbone, and thus might belong to the same female body. If so, aging using the lack of sphenooccipital epiphyseal fusion and the complete fusion of the clavicle lead to an age estimation of 18 to 25 years of age.

The hipbone and fibula are both similar in size and thus might belong to the same male body. The hipbone displays characteristics typical of a male, such as a lack of ventral arc and a larger acetabulum. Because both were fully fused, this male was most likely an adult. The non-human bones flat and broad shape did not match the morphology of any human bone, and its lack of epiphyseal fusion, characteristic of a subadult, making the bone too big to be a metatarsal of an infant.

Sincerely, ID #1288386

WORD COUNT: 248.

ID #1288386, Bag ID V 1. Nonhuman bones One of the bones was non-human, characterized by its sagittally flat and coronally broad shape that does not fit the morphology of any human bone. The closest human bone it resembled is a metatarsal; however, because it lacks epiphyseal fusion on the proximal end of the bone, the subject with the bone must have been young, and the bone is too big to belong to an infant.

2. Identification and Siding of Human Bones Bone Identification Occipital Side Not applicable Rationale Foramen magnum positioned inferiorly and slightly anteriorly for upright positioning of the head (thus, must be human) Temporal Right Zygomatic arch anteriorly, mastoid process laterally, squamosal suture superiorly Lateral vertebral foramen characteristic of Vertebra C7 Not applicable cervical vertebrae; very robust spinous process projecting posteriorly at a slightly inferior angle; vertebral body is saddle-shaped Fibula Right Lateral malleolus is lateral and distal, interosseuous crest positioned anteriorly Sternal end medially, smoother surface superiorly, bows anteriorly medially Pubic symphysis medially, ilium superoposteriorly, ischium inferiorly Round articular head, rectangular proximal Metacarpal M5 Right base, nonarticular side of base faces medially, away from MC4; concave inferior surface Fibular tubercle laterally, lateral and medial Calcaneus Right processes posteroinferiorly, calcaneal tuber posteriorly With aid from The Human Bone Manual (see Reference List).

Clavicle

Left

Innominate

Right

ID #1288386, Bag ID V 3. Post-mortem damage Bone Occipital Temporal Bone condition Excellent Excellent Undamaged Undamaged Minor abrasion on: 1) Lateral processes, 2) Vertebra C7 Very good inferior articular facets, 3) inferior/superior spinous processes; all exposing rough cancellous bone Fibula Good Shaft in excellent condition Major abrasion on lateral malleolus and on the medial side of the head, both exposing rough cancellous bone Minor abrasion on the sternal anterior surface Clavicle Excellent and the lateral end, both exposing rough cancellous bone Minor abrasion on anterosuperior iliac spine; more medium abrasion on superomedial side Innominate Good Metacarpal M5 Excellent Major abrasion of iliac tuberosity Slight abrasion on lateral side of pubic symphysis All exposure of rough cancellous bone Description of damage

Distal base, posterior side has very slight abrasion and exposure of rough cancellous bone Very slight abrasion on superior view of calcaneal tuber and lateral superior side of calcaneus; small exposure of rough cancellous bone

Calcaneus

Very good

ID #1288386, Bag ID V 4. Identifying characteristics for sex and age estimation; height estimation Bones not listed are irrelevant for aging and sexing Bone Occipital Sex Gracile nuchal line (White and Folkens, 2005) Estimation: Age Unfused sphenooccipital synchondrosis (age of fusion 18.0 25.0) (White and Folkens, 2005) Temporal Minimal expression of mastoid process (White and Folkens, 2005) Estimation: Vertebra C7 Fully fused (age of fusion 18.0 25.0) (Scheuer and Black, 2000) Fibula Fully fused (age of fusion 14.5 19.5) (Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994) Measures 335mm Relative to articulated skeleton, similar in size Clavicle Fully fused (age of fusion 18.0 30.0) (Scheuer and Black, 2000) Relative to articulated skeleton, significantly smaller Innominate Narrow greater sciatic notch Lack of ventral arc Fully fused (age of fusion 16.5 23.0) (Scheuer and Black, 2000) Relative to articulated skeleton, similar in size Size

ID #1288386, Bag ID V Medially fairly flat, broad, and blunt ischiopubic ramus Straight subpubic concavity Almost vertical angle of eversion Greater size of acetabulum Estimation: All sex estimations from The Human Bone Manual (see Reference List).

From the characteristics of those listed in the table above, most likely both sexes were represented in the bone bag, both adults. Male skeletons are often have larger or wider features than their female counterparts (White and Folkens, 2005). The nuchal crest and the mastoid process both serve as attachment sites for muscles (e.g.; the trapezius and the sternocleidomastoid); as men often have larger muscles than women, these attachment features are more robust in men. The nuchal crest found on the occipital bone and the mastoid process found on the temporal bone were fairly gracile, characteristics of a female skeleton. The innominate had features all belonging to that of a male skeleton. Differences between males and females in the innominate can usually be attributed to childbearing in females or the pure size of bones in males versus females, such as in the size of the acetabulum being larger in males to fit the generally greater size of a males femur head. The size of the bones was compared to a fully articulated skeleton, and both the fibula and innominate were of relatively similar size, whereas the clavicle was significantly smaller (though fused, so not a child). The epiphyseal fusion of almost all the bones except the sphenooccipital synchondrosis hints that regardless of the number of bodies, all were adult, as synostosis takes place between 18 and 25 years of age.

ID #1288386, Bag ID V 5. Miscellaneous unusual features The C7 vertebra found had osteophytes along the vertebral body, signifying cartilage damage and osteoarthritis in the vertebrae.

6. Number of persons Based on the summary of the age, sex, and size of the bones briefed in Section 4, I would estimate that there were a minimum of two persons found, with the clavicle, occipital, and temporal belonging to the female, and the innominate and fibula belonging to the male. The metacarpal, vertebra, and calcaneus are harder to sex and thus match. Rationale for the Female: The clavicle is significantly smaller relative to the complete articulated skeleton, whereas the fibula and innominate are of the same size; however, the clavicle is completely fused, possibly belonging to a different, smaller body perhaps that of a female. The occipital and temporal bones display generally female characteristics, and though synostosis occurs between 18 and 25 years of age, the clavicle being fully fused confines this age range to 18 to 25 years of age. Rationale for the Male: The fibula and innominate, as explained above, are of similar size relative to the model and are both fully fused. Based on size, I would match the fibula and innominate together, and based on the hipbones characteristics, sex these two bones as male. A height estimation of 1.62m was made based off the length of the fibula using the Human Bone Manual (White and Folkens, 2005).

WORD COUNT: 1000.

ID #1288386, Bag ID V Reference List Buikstra, J. and Ubelaker, D. 1994. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Fayetteville: Arkansas Archaeological Survey Press. Scheuer, L. and Black, S. 2000. Developmental Juvenile Osteology. San Diego: Academic Press. White, T. and Folkens, P. 2005. The Human Bone Manual. Burlington: Elsevier Academic Press.