Techniques for siding manual phalanges.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Bioarchaeology
• Human Osteology

Background:

• Determining the anatomical side of phalanges is vital for forensic anthropology, archaeology, and paleoanthropology.
• Existing methods for phalange side and ray identification are limited in the scientific literature.
• Accurate phalange siding is critical for identification, trauma analysis, and archaeological interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of established phalange siding techniques in a realistic forensic context.
• To identify reliable features for determining the side and ray of phalanges without prior positional information.
• To assess the applicability of these techniques on both documented and undocumented skeletal collections.

Main Methods:

• The study tested phalange siding techniques described by Case and Heilman (2000).
• Observations were conducted without providing positional information, mimicking forensic casework.
• Two skeletal samples were used: the documented Terry Collection and the undocumented Bass Collection.

Main Results:

• The Case and Heilman features demonstrated high accuracy in siding phalanges, reaching 100% in the documented Terry Collection.
• In the undocumented Bass Collection, the features provided reasonable certainty for phalange siding, improving with bilateral presence.
• Additional useful features for phalange siding and ray identification were also identified.

Conclusions:

• The evaluated phalange siding techniques are effective and applicable in forensic anthropological investigations.
• These methods enhance the ability to identify the anatomical side of phalanges, even in challenging casework.
• The findings contribute valuable tools for skeletal analysis in forensic, archaeological, and paleoanthropological research.