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Perimortem or Postmortem Bone Fractures? An Experimental Study of Fracture Patterns in Deer Femora *
Author(s) -
Wheatley Bruce P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00593.x
Subject(s) - fracture (geology) , postmortem changes , forensic anthropology , medicine , human bone , forensic science , anatomy , bone fracture , time of death , dentistry , biology , archaeology , veterinary medicine , pathology , emergency medicine , geography , radiology , paleontology , biochemistry , in vitro
The determination of perimortem trauma is important for forensic anthropologists. Characteristics of bone fractures such as sharp edges, presence of fracture lines, the shape of the broken ends, fracture surface morphology, fracture angle on the Z ‐axis, and butterfly fractures are said to differentiate perimortem from postmortem trauma. A Drop Weight Impact Test Machine was used to break 76 deer femora of various ages since death. The results of this study suggest that the characteristics listed above are unreliable at differentiating a perimortem fracture from a postmortem fracture in a forensic case. There are, however, statistically significant differences between fresh bones broken less than 4 days old and dry bones broken 44 days or 1 year old after death.