ANT 3520 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Saw, Terminal Ballistics, Penetrating Trauma
17 Feb 2016
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Trauma iv: breakaway spurs- projections of bone where bone fails in fracture. In dismemberment, size relates to force (large spurs from more powerful saws) Assists in establishing direction of force and how dismemberment proceeded. Size of spur is often associated with size of saw and amount of force: false starts- incomplete kerf cuts. Preserves aspects of kerf (walls and floor) that can help establish tool type. Number and location of false starts may relate to experience of perpetrator. Places when body is easy to cut up: rip saws are designed to cut along grain; more u-shaped kerf, mechanical saws will have more smooth, parallel saw marks versus hand- held saws. Projectile/ballistic trauma: injuries caused by projectiles that strike tissue. May discern something about caliber and trajectory. Bone may record information better than soft tissue (due to severity of impact in the soft tissue: terminal ballistics- the study of the behavior of a projectile when it hits its target.
