Identifying the Dead Week 3
The MOOC for this week started off with a warning that the areas under discussion would include various types of trauma, particularly dismemberment, and as such there was a video showing a professional butcher sawing animal bones. There was reassurance that all distressing aspects would be marked accordingly but also that it would all be dealt with in a very scientific and factual manner. You'd expect that people who would find that kind of thing triggering wouldn't be doing a forensic course in the first place but then again, sometimes you don't know how you'll react to something until you're faced with it.
The course this week included the following:
* printing out official recording forms - 20 pages! It only really consisted of 2 different sheets though, 2 copies of a skeletal recording form and 19 copies of a general examination notes form, so I just printed out half of it for now.
* learning lots of terminology for bones and their location within the body.
* more colouring in! Although it's more a checking off exercise than anything, making sure all 206-ish bones are present from the remains found in the clandestine grave and if there's any damage.
* studying an x-ray to see if there are any fractures and if so, whether they might be ante-, peri- or post-mortem. I've since discovered that one of the places that I indicated as a possible ante-mortem fracture is actually where someone edited the original image to take out an arrow! *headdesk*
* learning about the visual damage caused by blunt and sharp force trauma by hitting a ball of plasticine (or blu tac in my case) with a ruler. V technical.
* watching a butcher cut pig bones with a knife, cleaver, hacksaw and small machete, in order to learn how different implements leave different marks on bones. (I know pigs are very fierce and vicious animals but what are the odds on finding a butcher with access to a machete?)
* drawing diagrams of the trauma marks on the bones found in the clandestine grave and writing notes accordingly. My notes said: Left femur - proximal end, small breakaway spur on posterior side of cut; hesitation marks on anterior side; cut started on anterior medial side. Square shape of hesitation marks and striations indicate blade with teeth, such as a handsaw. And yes, I did understand most of it!
Halfway through now! I think they've done a good job with this course, they've hit the right balance of challenging but fun. Kind of makes me wish this field was an option when I was at school! I know a few people have said how interesting it sounds, and it's possibly not too late to sign up - you can do it at your own speed and all the material will be available after the course has finished.
The course this week included the following:
* printing out official recording forms - 20 pages! It only really consisted of 2 different sheets though, 2 copies of a skeletal recording form and 19 copies of a general examination notes form, so I just printed out half of it for now.
* learning lots of terminology for bones and their location within the body.
* more colouring in! Although it's more a checking off exercise than anything, making sure all 206-ish bones are present from the remains found in the clandestine grave and if there's any damage.
* studying an x-ray to see if there are any fractures and if so, whether they might be ante-, peri- or post-mortem. I've since discovered that one of the places that I indicated as a possible ante-mortem fracture is actually where someone edited the original image to take out an arrow! *headdesk*
* learning about the visual damage caused by blunt and sharp force trauma by hitting a ball of plasticine (or blu tac in my case) with a ruler. V technical.
* watching a butcher cut pig bones with a knife, cleaver, hacksaw and small machete, in order to learn how different implements leave different marks on bones. (I know pigs are very fierce and vicious animals but what are the odds on finding a butcher with access to a machete?)
* drawing diagrams of the trauma marks on the bones found in the clandestine grave and writing notes accordingly. My notes said: Left femur - proximal end, small breakaway spur on posterior side of cut; hesitation marks on anterior side; cut started on anterior medial side. Square shape of hesitation marks and striations indicate blade with teeth, such as a handsaw. And yes, I did understand most of it!
Halfway through now! I think they've done a good job with this course, they've hit the right balance of challenging but fun. Kind of makes me wish this field was an option when I was at school! I know a few people have said how interesting it sounds, and it's possibly not too late to sign up - you can do it at your own speed and all the material will be available after the course has finished.