Papers by Brittany S . Walter
Background: Late medieval England underwent intensive urbanisation, particularly in its largest c... more Background: Late medieval England underwent intensive urbanisation, particularly in its largest city:
London. Urban dwellers were exposed to factors such as high population density, elevated risk of
infection, unsanitary living conditions and precarious food supplies.
Aim: To assess whether the urban environment was more detrimental to health than the rural environment,
this study compares risks of mortality and survival, as proxies for health, in medieval urban vs
rural England.
Subjects and methods: This study uses samples from rural St. Peter’s cemetery in Bartonupon-
Humber, Lincolnshire (c. 1150–1500) and urban St. Mary Spital cemetery in London
(c. 1120–1539). Cox proportional hazards analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis are used to assess
differences in mortality and survival between urban and rural environments, including differences
between sexes.
Results: The results indicate that urban adults faced elevated risks of dying and reductions in survivorship.
Specifically, urban females faced elevated risks of dying and reductions in survivorship, while the
risks for males were similar in both environments.
Discussion: These results suggest that the effects of urbanisation in medieval England varied by sex.
Deleterious conditions associated with urbanisation in London were hazardous for adults, particularly
females who may have migrated into London from rural areas for labour opportunities.
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Forensic Science International, 2013
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Conference Presentations by Brittany S . Walter
American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 2020
Survey of Perimortem Vertebral Trauma in Historic Cases
A. Palmiotto, PhD;1,2 B. S. Walter, PhD;2... more Survey of Perimortem Vertebral Trauma in Historic Cases
A. Palmiotto, PhD;1,2 B. S. Walter, PhD;2 L. F. Kennedy, PhD;2 E. Streetman, PhD2
1 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, 15705
2 Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory, 106 Peacekeeper Dr., Offutt Air Force Base, NE 68113
Key Words: perimortem trauma analysis, vertebral injury, mechanism of trauma
After attending this presentation, attendees will gain awareness of: the value of incorporating vertebrae in trauma analysis; how analysts typically describe and interpret perimortem vertebral trauma; and the importance of standardization in descriptions of vertebral skeletal trauma.
This presentation will impact the scientific community by: facilitating analysis of vertebral trauma in skeletonized remains; highlighting the importance of reconstruction and articulation of fragmented remains for trauma analysis; and improving standardization of vertebral trauma analysis by presenting illustrative examples.
Vertebrae present challenges in trauma analysis because of their unique morphology and articulations within the thorax. Additionally, due to the complex structure of vertebrae, expectations based on biomechanics are of limited value. The forensic anthropological literature presents conflicting opinions regarding the importance and analytical potential of vertebral trauma. Experimental and retrospective trauma research primarily focus on the skull, long bones, and ribs. Several published case studies demonstrate that analysis of vertebral trauma can contribute significantly to overall trauma interpretation. However, in other cases, analysts cite fragmentation of the vertebral remains as precluding any useful interpretative analysis to be undertaken. The foremost objective of this study is to clarify discrepancies in the literature by assessing the value of vertebral trauma analysis in a sample of skeletal trauma analyses of various mechanisms.
Trauma analyses of historic cases associated with U.S. servicemen and civilians lost during WWII and the Korean War from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory are reviewed (n=51). Analyses were completed in the blind, and unknown individuals have since been identified and associated with air (n=18), ground (n=31), and sea losses (n=2). These cases display blunt-force (n=10), projectile (n=18), extensive (e.g., deceleration or blast; n=18), or indeterminate trauma (n=5).
Overall, analyses of affected vertebrae are highly variable. The degree of fragmentation is rarely quantified. Most analysts include photographs of vertebral trauma (65%) and incorporate adjacent skeletal regions in their analysis (63%). However, reconstruction or articulation are undertaken in less than half of cases (41%). Vertebral trauma contributes to directionality interpretations in approximately half of cases (51%).
When these results are assessed by mechanism, photographs of vertebral trauma are included more frequently in blunt-force (70%) and projectile (100%) trauma cases than extensive trauma cases (33%). More often than not, analysts incorporate adjacent skeletal regions in vertebral trauma analysis no matter the mechanism (blunt-force=60%, projectile=67%, extensive=72%). Vertebrae are reconstructed more commonly in projectile (78%) than blunt-force (30%) or extensive (17%) trauma cases, and directionality is interpreted more often in projectile (67%) and extensive (56%) cases than in blunt-force (20%) cases. These trends may reflect factors such as the condition (e.g., fragmentation) of vertebrae or the absence of standardized language and guidance for analysis of vertebral skeletal trauma. Additionally, in extensive trauma cases, analysts may not directly address vertebral trauma in an attempt to synthesize observations.
Results indicate that analyses of vertebral trauma are highly variable. Analysts are likely to consider the relationship between trauma observed on vertebrae and adjacent elements regardless of traumatic mechanism. Further, vertebral trauma analysis is underused in blunt force trauma cases, and analysts more often reconstruct vertebrae and infer directionality in projectile trauma cases.
Although vertebrae have received less attention than other elements in the trauma literature, preliminary results suggest that vertebrae are valuable in the interpretation of skeletal trauma regardless of the mechanism of injury. Reconstruction of fragmented vertebral remains and consideration of adjacent elements has the potential to improve analyses and result in more robust descriptions. Though many of the cases reviewed here present relatively complete sets of skeletal remains, these results suggest that vertebrae are valuable in cases with incomplete and fragmented remains as well. These findings facilitate a more comprehensive and standardized interpretation of injury patterns in skeletal remains and direct future research on vertebral trauma in forensic cases.
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AAFS Annual Meeting, 2019
Antimeric leg length asymmetry is often encountered in forensic anthropological casework. Guidanc... more Antimeric leg length asymmetry is often encountered in forensic anthropological casework. Guidance is provided regarding how to estimate stature when asymmetry is present to avoid inaccurate stature estimates and erroneous exclusion of a decedent as a match to their skeletal remains.
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Urbanization is often associated with declining health and increased mortality. Studies investiga... more Urbanization is often associated with declining health and increased mortality. Studies investigating health and urbanization have primarily examined raw frequencies of pathological lesions or differences in mean age-at-death between urban and rural skeletal samples, interpreting higher levels of pathologies or decreased mean age-at-death in urban samples as direct evidence for deteriorating health. Paleodemographic analyses of mortality using hazard analysis, however, address issues associated with traditional methods (e.g. heterogeneity in frailty and selective mortality) and can provide a better understanding of the relationship between urbanization and mortality. This study uses hazard analysis to assess differences in adult mortality between the urban St. Mary Spital cemetery in London (n=333), and the semi-rural St. Peter’s cemetery in Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire (n=150) in medieval England (c. 1120-1539). “Urban” is modeled as a covariate affecting the Gompertz hazard of adult mortality. The estimated effect of the urban covariate, when sex is pooled, is positive, suggesting that individuals in London experienced increased risks of dying compared to individuals in the more rural environment. The results also indicate that females faced increased risks of dying in the urban environment, but the risk for males was the same in both environments. These results suggest that urban environments known for high population density, unsanitary living conditions, and precarious food supplies, may be more detrimental to health, at least for females, than contemporaneous rural environments. Further, migrants to urban centers, such as London, may have not been suited for the urban environment and could have faced increased risks of dying.
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The rapid increase of population density in urban centers facilitates the transmission of infecti... more The rapid increase of population density in urban centers facilitates the transmission of infectious diseases, unsanitary living conditions, and other detrimental factors. The failure of a population to adapt to these changes should be evident in lower rates of survivorship as urbanization increases. Previous bioarchaeological studies investigating health changes linked to urbanization primarily assessed raw frequencies of pathological lesions in urban and rural skeletal collections, interpreting higher levels of pathologies in urban collections as evidence for deteriorating health. This study adds to urban-rural comparisons by investigating survival patterns of individuals from a single medieval London cemetery, St. Mary Spital, dated to the eve of the Early Modern Period when London was undergoing early urbanization. Based on Bayesian radiocarbon dating, the cemetery has been divided into distinct chronological phases, with this study including samples from the three earliest phases, Phase 14 1120-1200 (n = 50), Phase 15 1200-1250 (n = 53), and Phase 16 1250-1400 (n = 45). The results of Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicate survival differences among these three phases (p = .042). Survivorships for Phases 14 and 16 are similar and both are higher than that for Phase 15. Moreover, the 95% confidence intervals for mean survival time of Phases 14 and 16 overlap substantially. These preliminary results might suggest that survivorship does not simply decrease linearly as urbanism intensifies and indicate that research on urbanization should consider factors such as migration, famine, the heterogeneous nature of populations, and the diversity of health environments associated with urbanization.
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The accurate diagnosis of skeletal pathologies can contribute information concerning malnutrition... more The accurate diagnosis of skeletal pathologies can contribute information concerning malnutrition, disease prevalence, and overall health, enabling bioarchaeologists to reconstruct a more precise depiction of health patterns in past populations. In bioarchaeology, paleopathological analyses are limited to lesions left behind on bone, making the specific etiology of pathologies difficult to determine. Bone lesions resulting from cancer are exceptionally challenging to diagnose because of the numerous ways in which different types of cancer present on the skeleton. However, by considering the appearance of lesions and the prevalence of lesions on certain skeletal elements, along with contextual information of the individual, it is oftentimes possible to differentiate between types of cancer. This presentation will explore two of the most commonly occurring disorders that cause multiple osteolytic lesions- metastatic carcinoma and multiple myeloma. These conditions present similarly on bone and exhibit a morphological gradient that makes the differential diagnosis between the two particularly difficult. However, this presentation will demonstrate that differentiating between metastatic carcinoma and multiple myeloma is possible when age and sex of the individual are considered in conjunction with a thorough macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the appearance and distribution of lesions on the skeleton.
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Tooth decay is one of the most common oral infections observed in bioarchaeological assemblages. ... more Tooth decay is one of the most common oral infections observed in bioarchaeological assemblages. Sex differentials in caries frequency are commonly examined, with most studies finding that females tend to have a higher frequency of caries compared to males. Less research has examined differences in caries between males and females with respect to age in past populations. Findings from living populations indicate that caries frequencies are higher in females, at least in part, because of the effects of estrogen and pregnancy. We are interested in the interaction of age, sex, and caries in medieval London, during a period of repeated famines, which might have exacerbated underlying biological causes of caries sex differentials. We examined caries in adults dating to c. 1120-1250 AD in the St. Mary Spital cemetery (n=143) to test the hypothesis that men and women have different caries frequencies with respect to age. Using hierarchical log-linear analysis to control for the effects of age on caries frequencies, the results show that the maxillary caries frequency is higher in females (p=0.043), and that the caries by age distribution differs between the sexes (p=0.09), with a consistent increase in frequency with age for females, but not males. The difference in caries frequencies is not explained by differences in the age distributions of the sexes. Differences in the age patterns of caries for males and females could be the result of biological factors that present during old age, differences in diet, or differential access to resources during famine.
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Although considered a disease of modern industrial societies, skeletal and soft tissue evidence o... more Although considered a disease of modern industrial societies, skeletal and soft tissue evidence of secondary malignant cancers is becoming more evident in the ancient world. Here we present two cases of advanced metastatic carcinoma from ancient Egypt, both most likely representative of breast cancer that metastasized throughout the skeleton. The first case, from the site of Dayr al Barsha, dates to the 3rd Dynasty period (circa 2660 BC) and may well represent the earliest skeletal evidence for this disease. This individual, an adult female approximately 45 years of age at death, displays multiple characteristic metastatic lesions throughout her skeleton. The second case, from the Kellis 2 cemetery in Dakhleh Oasis dating to the Romano-Christian period (circa 100 to 360 AD), is also an adult female approximately 40 years of age at death and displays similar characteristic metastatic lesions, however, in limited distribution. Given the advanced stage of cancer represented in both cases, we also explore possible pain management strategies used in ancient Egypt.
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Adult stature reflects, among other things, exposure to physiological stressors such as disease a... more Adult stature reflects, among other things, exposure to physiological stressors such as disease and malnutrition during development. Studies in living and past populations have found significant positive associations between stature and health, and negative associations between stature and risks of mortality. Examination of the relationship between social status and stature has yielded conflicting results, with only some studies finding significant associations between the two. This study examines stature variation within and between higher and lower status adults in the St. Mary Grace cemetery in London dated to 1350-1538 (n = 52). Using femur and tibia maximum lengths as a proxy for stature, this analysis tests the hypothesis that high status individuals are better buffered from physiological stressors during development and have higher mean adult stature, and less variation thereof, compared to low status individuals. The results indicate that among males, high status individuals are significantly taller and that variation in stature is significantly lower. Among females, there are no significant differences in mean stature or variation in stature between high and low status individuals. A higher proportion of low status individuals are below the mean stature for sex, though this difference is not statistically significant. These results may indicate a more varied diet or heightened exposure to physiological stressors for lower status people. The lack of an association between status and stature among females may indicate that females were better buffered against physiological stress than males, which could have acted to reduce the differences between socioeconomic status for females.
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Evidence of metastatic carcinoma is believed to be a rare occurrence in the archaeological record... more Evidence of metastatic carcinoma is believed to be a rare occurrence in the archaeological record and can be overlooked without thorough contextual analysis of remains. When lesions characteristic of metastatic carcinoma are discovered, a differential diagnosis should be conducted to eliminate possible taphonomic effects or other diseases. It is crucial to employ all possible analytical methods, so that an accurate diagnosis may be achieved. However in many instances, analysis is limited to only macro- and/or microscopic methods, making it difficult to determine the type of disease or, more specifically, the type of cancer present. Here we present a comprehensive characteristic assessment with the aim of reaching the most accurate differential diagnosis of cancer possible without the aid of destructive analysis or radiographs. The remains of an adult female from Dayr al-Barshā, Egypt (circa 2660 BC) with extensive lytic lesions were evaluated to identify specific diagnostic traits and develop a stepped methodology for differential diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma in skeletal remains. Variable size and appearance of lesions, prevalence of lesions to appear on certain skeletal elements, and many additional taphonomic and physical factors were considered during analysis. It was determined through these methods that the individual most likely suffered from an advanced stage of breast cancer. Thus, the differentiation of metastatic carcinoma from taphonomic effects and other diseases is possible when the age and sex of the individual are considered in conjunction with a thorough macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the location and appearance of the lesions on the skeleton.
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Papers by Brittany S . Walter
London. Urban dwellers were exposed to factors such as high population density, elevated risk of
infection, unsanitary living conditions and precarious food supplies.
Aim: To assess whether the urban environment was more detrimental to health than the rural environment,
this study compares risks of mortality and survival, as proxies for health, in medieval urban vs
rural England.
Subjects and methods: This study uses samples from rural St. Peter’s cemetery in Bartonupon-
Humber, Lincolnshire (c. 1150–1500) and urban St. Mary Spital cemetery in London
(c. 1120–1539). Cox proportional hazards analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis are used to assess
differences in mortality and survival between urban and rural environments, including differences
between sexes.
Results: The results indicate that urban adults faced elevated risks of dying and reductions in survivorship.
Specifically, urban females faced elevated risks of dying and reductions in survivorship, while the
risks for males were similar in both environments.
Discussion: These results suggest that the effects of urbanisation in medieval England varied by sex.
Deleterious conditions associated with urbanisation in London were hazardous for adults, particularly
females who may have migrated into London from rural areas for labour opportunities.
Conference Presentations by Brittany S . Walter
A. Palmiotto, PhD;1,2 B. S. Walter, PhD;2 L. F. Kennedy, PhD;2 E. Streetman, PhD2
1 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, 15705
2 Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory, 106 Peacekeeper Dr., Offutt Air Force Base, NE 68113
Key Words: perimortem trauma analysis, vertebral injury, mechanism of trauma
After attending this presentation, attendees will gain awareness of: the value of incorporating vertebrae in trauma analysis; how analysts typically describe and interpret perimortem vertebral trauma; and the importance of standardization in descriptions of vertebral skeletal trauma.
This presentation will impact the scientific community by: facilitating analysis of vertebral trauma in skeletonized remains; highlighting the importance of reconstruction and articulation of fragmented remains for trauma analysis; and improving standardization of vertebral trauma analysis by presenting illustrative examples.
Vertebrae present challenges in trauma analysis because of their unique morphology and articulations within the thorax. Additionally, due to the complex structure of vertebrae, expectations based on biomechanics are of limited value. The forensic anthropological literature presents conflicting opinions regarding the importance and analytical potential of vertebral trauma. Experimental and retrospective trauma research primarily focus on the skull, long bones, and ribs. Several published case studies demonstrate that analysis of vertebral trauma can contribute significantly to overall trauma interpretation. However, in other cases, analysts cite fragmentation of the vertebral remains as precluding any useful interpretative analysis to be undertaken. The foremost objective of this study is to clarify discrepancies in the literature by assessing the value of vertebral trauma analysis in a sample of skeletal trauma analyses of various mechanisms.
Trauma analyses of historic cases associated with U.S. servicemen and civilians lost during WWII and the Korean War from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory are reviewed (n=51). Analyses were completed in the blind, and unknown individuals have since been identified and associated with air (n=18), ground (n=31), and sea losses (n=2). These cases display blunt-force (n=10), projectile (n=18), extensive (e.g., deceleration or blast; n=18), or indeterminate trauma (n=5).
Overall, analyses of affected vertebrae are highly variable. The degree of fragmentation is rarely quantified. Most analysts include photographs of vertebral trauma (65%) and incorporate adjacent skeletal regions in their analysis (63%). However, reconstruction or articulation are undertaken in less than half of cases (41%). Vertebral trauma contributes to directionality interpretations in approximately half of cases (51%).
When these results are assessed by mechanism, photographs of vertebral trauma are included more frequently in blunt-force (70%) and projectile (100%) trauma cases than extensive trauma cases (33%). More often than not, analysts incorporate adjacent skeletal regions in vertebral trauma analysis no matter the mechanism (blunt-force=60%, projectile=67%, extensive=72%). Vertebrae are reconstructed more commonly in projectile (78%) than blunt-force (30%) or extensive (17%) trauma cases, and directionality is interpreted more often in projectile (67%) and extensive (56%) cases than in blunt-force (20%) cases. These trends may reflect factors such as the condition (e.g., fragmentation) of vertebrae or the absence of standardized language and guidance for analysis of vertebral skeletal trauma. Additionally, in extensive trauma cases, analysts may not directly address vertebral trauma in an attempt to synthesize observations.
Results indicate that analyses of vertebral trauma are highly variable. Analysts are likely to consider the relationship between trauma observed on vertebrae and adjacent elements regardless of traumatic mechanism. Further, vertebral trauma analysis is underused in blunt force trauma cases, and analysts more often reconstruct vertebrae and infer directionality in projectile trauma cases.
Although vertebrae have received less attention than other elements in the trauma literature, preliminary results suggest that vertebrae are valuable in the interpretation of skeletal trauma regardless of the mechanism of injury. Reconstruction of fragmented vertebral remains and consideration of adjacent elements has the potential to improve analyses and result in more robust descriptions. Though many of the cases reviewed here present relatively complete sets of skeletal remains, these results suggest that vertebrae are valuable in cases with incomplete and fragmented remains as well. These findings facilitate a more comprehensive and standardized interpretation of injury patterns in skeletal remains and direct future research on vertebral trauma in forensic cases.
London. Urban dwellers were exposed to factors such as high population density, elevated risk of
infection, unsanitary living conditions and precarious food supplies.
Aim: To assess whether the urban environment was more detrimental to health than the rural environment,
this study compares risks of mortality and survival, as proxies for health, in medieval urban vs
rural England.
Subjects and methods: This study uses samples from rural St. Peter’s cemetery in Bartonupon-
Humber, Lincolnshire (c. 1150–1500) and urban St. Mary Spital cemetery in London
(c. 1120–1539). Cox proportional hazards analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis are used to assess
differences in mortality and survival between urban and rural environments, including differences
between sexes.
Results: The results indicate that urban adults faced elevated risks of dying and reductions in survivorship.
Specifically, urban females faced elevated risks of dying and reductions in survivorship, while the
risks for males were similar in both environments.
Discussion: These results suggest that the effects of urbanisation in medieval England varied by sex.
Deleterious conditions associated with urbanisation in London were hazardous for adults, particularly
females who may have migrated into London from rural areas for labour opportunities.
A. Palmiotto, PhD;1,2 B. S. Walter, PhD;2 L. F. Kennedy, PhD;2 E. Streetman, PhD2
1 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, 15705
2 Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory, 106 Peacekeeper Dr., Offutt Air Force Base, NE 68113
Key Words: perimortem trauma analysis, vertebral injury, mechanism of trauma
After attending this presentation, attendees will gain awareness of: the value of incorporating vertebrae in trauma analysis; how analysts typically describe and interpret perimortem vertebral trauma; and the importance of standardization in descriptions of vertebral skeletal trauma.
This presentation will impact the scientific community by: facilitating analysis of vertebral trauma in skeletonized remains; highlighting the importance of reconstruction and articulation of fragmented remains for trauma analysis; and improving standardization of vertebral trauma analysis by presenting illustrative examples.
Vertebrae present challenges in trauma analysis because of their unique morphology and articulations within the thorax. Additionally, due to the complex structure of vertebrae, expectations based on biomechanics are of limited value. The forensic anthropological literature presents conflicting opinions regarding the importance and analytical potential of vertebral trauma. Experimental and retrospective trauma research primarily focus on the skull, long bones, and ribs. Several published case studies demonstrate that analysis of vertebral trauma can contribute significantly to overall trauma interpretation. However, in other cases, analysts cite fragmentation of the vertebral remains as precluding any useful interpretative analysis to be undertaken. The foremost objective of this study is to clarify discrepancies in the literature by assessing the value of vertebral trauma analysis in a sample of skeletal trauma analyses of various mechanisms.
Trauma analyses of historic cases associated with U.S. servicemen and civilians lost during WWII and the Korean War from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory are reviewed (n=51). Analyses were completed in the blind, and unknown individuals have since been identified and associated with air (n=18), ground (n=31), and sea losses (n=2). These cases display blunt-force (n=10), projectile (n=18), extensive (e.g., deceleration or blast; n=18), or indeterminate trauma (n=5).
Overall, analyses of affected vertebrae are highly variable. The degree of fragmentation is rarely quantified. Most analysts include photographs of vertebral trauma (65%) and incorporate adjacent skeletal regions in their analysis (63%). However, reconstruction or articulation are undertaken in less than half of cases (41%). Vertebral trauma contributes to directionality interpretations in approximately half of cases (51%).
When these results are assessed by mechanism, photographs of vertebral trauma are included more frequently in blunt-force (70%) and projectile (100%) trauma cases than extensive trauma cases (33%). More often than not, analysts incorporate adjacent skeletal regions in vertebral trauma analysis no matter the mechanism (blunt-force=60%, projectile=67%, extensive=72%). Vertebrae are reconstructed more commonly in projectile (78%) than blunt-force (30%) or extensive (17%) trauma cases, and directionality is interpreted more often in projectile (67%) and extensive (56%) cases than in blunt-force (20%) cases. These trends may reflect factors such as the condition (e.g., fragmentation) of vertebrae or the absence of standardized language and guidance for analysis of vertebral skeletal trauma. Additionally, in extensive trauma cases, analysts may not directly address vertebral trauma in an attempt to synthesize observations.
Results indicate that analyses of vertebral trauma are highly variable. Analysts are likely to consider the relationship between trauma observed on vertebrae and adjacent elements regardless of traumatic mechanism. Further, vertebral trauma analysis is underused in blunt force trauma cases, and analysts more often reconstruct vertebrae and infer directionality in projectile trauma cases.
Although vertebrae have received less attention than other elements in the trauma literature, preliminary results suggest that vertebrae are valuable in the interpretation of skeletal trauma regardless of the mechanism of injury. Reconstruction of fragmented vertebral remains and consideration of adjacent elements has the potential to improve analyses and result in more robust descriptions. Though many of the cases reviewed here present relatively complete sets of skeletal remains, these results suggest that vertebrae are valuable in cases with incomplete and fragmented remains as well. These findings facilitate a more comprehensive and standardized interpretation of injury patterns in skeletal remains and direct future research on vertebral trauma in forensic cases.