Skeletal Trauma: Identification of Injuries Resulting from Human Rights Abuse and Armed Conflict [Paperback]

Written to assist in large-scale investigations of human rights violations, this seminal work describes the mechanisms of injuries, synthesizes variations in wounding patterns, and constructs an epidemiological framework for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting physical evidence for use at trial. It presents protocols for systemic data collection and methods for differential wound diagnosis. Contributions evaluate blasting injuries, blunt force trauma, skeletal evidence of torture, sharp force trauma, and gunfire injuries. Illustrated with more than 600 photographs, each chapter discusses wounding mechanisms, wound pathophysiology, relevant legal examples, and contributed case studies.

Written to assist in large-scale investigations of human rights violations, this seminal work describes the mechanisms of injuries, synthesizes variations in wounding patterns, and constructs an epidemiological framework for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting physical evidence for use at trial. It presents protocols for systemic data collec

The authors provide a comprehensive synthesis of skeletal trauma analysis. The presentation of case studies by practitioners with a wealth of experience in the analysis of human skeletal trauma from various countries (particularly those not typically represented in the English language journals), is a major contribution to the disciplines of forensic anthropology and pathology. There is good emphasis on the contextual background and its importance in evaluating findings. This reliance is at the same time a potential weakness, which those practicing in ordinary domestic environments recognize only too well. The evaluation of future events, hitherto hidden in the conduct of war or internal violence, will be substantially advanced by the existence of this book. The authors are to be congratulated and thanked for their work.
-- Professor Stephen Cordner, MA, MBl³%