Cheap Bones (Book) (Douglas Ubelaker, Henry Scammell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Bones

GREAT INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
Dr. Ubelaker describes, very well, the work involved in forensic anthropology. Although I have interests of my own in this field, this book helped me to see many of the aspects involved in looking at human remains... it's not just nice clean bones! Anyone tinkering with the idea of becoming a forensic anthropologist themselves will benefit from reading this highly entertaining, if not educational book.

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The IDEAL text on death investigation!
I have read Dr.Ubelaker's book and I have to say that it has been the most informative book on homicide investigation I have ever seen. Being a student in Criminal Justice, I have read many textbooks on homicide investigation. Only Dr.Ubelaker's book gives you the viewpoint of the investigator, leading you through his thought processes and conclusions, as he works to solve the identity of murder victims. This book was truly a fascinating piece. I would recommend it to anyone looking to pursue a career in law enforcement, medicine, and (of course) forensic anthropology

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Crime Scene Investigations
This entertaining and educational book is about a Smithsonian curator who helps to solve crimes as an FBI consultant, and uses this same science to uncover ancient secrets. A forensic expert's testimony can mean the difference between a conviction and a miscarriage of justice. Hunters and gatherers of crops have long been important for discovering lost bodies. Connecting found bones to a missing person does not always lead to a suspect. The rules of evidence in court require a witness to speak from his observations, not from other's reports. Archeology is closely related to forensic anthropology. Human skeletal identification was used during the Korean hostilities. Forensic anthropology can enable the bones to speak in police investigations! The analysis of modern violence can explain what happened centuries ago. Large samples of skeletons can be used to determine the frequencies of various diseases. The 33,000 skeletons in the National Museum of Natural History provide a standard of comparison. Statistics promote objectivity.

As a young student Ubelaker wrote a term paper on the femur. You could determine that it was human, the height, estimate the sex, age at death, ethnic origin, body weight, patterns of locomotion, clues to certain diseases, indications of occupation, and sometimes how he died (p.45).

About 10% of those executed for murder were subsequently proven innocent (p.63)! The low number of reported poisonings suggest that medical examiners should be more vigilant in identifying murder victims (p.62). An "accidental overdose" could be murder. Far more crimes are committed with paper and a pen (p.74). Chapter 6 tells about distinguishing human from animal bones. Chapter 7 tells of determining sex, size, race, and age at death. Chapter 8 tells that much may be learned from the environment where a body was found. Time since death can be estimated from the type of insects feeding on the corpse (p.108).

Tooth marks on bones can hide or destroy evidence, or create false clues. Insects, larvae, and mollusks can create signs of pathology. Issuing more hunting licenses can result in more found remains (p.120). Chapter 10 explains how "dreams" can help solve crimes. Chapter 11 says attempts to hide a murder by burning attracts attention to the crime, even if they destroy some evidence. Chapter 13 tells what can be learned from larvae in a body. Chapter 14 says sketches based on skulls are not too accurate, but work because they are close enough to get a response from someone 9p.169). The interpretation of evidence can be highly subjective, as when expert witnesses disagree 9p.195). Do professional witnesses shape their testimony to please their clients (p.196)?

Chapter 16 shows Ubelaker misquoting that Borden jingle (p.208). Does the "alleged murder weapon" have a chain of custody? Page 221 tells of a skull drilled by a .25 caliber Black & Decker! "Children who are loved grow faster than those who are not" (p.228). The big challenge is to distinguish between evidence of foul play from other environmental changes (p.298). If other people know of a murder, eventually they will tell (p.258). Chapter 21 explains why there are so few serial killers around. A lot of murders go unrecognized (p.263). Chapter 22 tells of murderers that almost got away with it. The murderer of a Swansea Mass girl was named as a suspect, confessed to at least six of his friends, but wasn't prosecuted until five years later. Chapter 24 tells of the need to keep a certain distance from cases to preserve objectivity, and any emotional drain.