Emma Death's Acre Essay

Death’s Acre, Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab, the Body Farm, Where the Dead Do Tell Tales by Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson explores the world of forensic science by relaying real cases. Each chapter seems to teach a new lesson about workings of the forensic lab. Bass effectively explains how scientists today are able to identify a body, determine time since death, and catch a killer. With every unique chapter the confusing web of forensic science becomes a little easier to understand and a new piece is added to the puzzle.
The Bones of an Eaglet
In this chapter, the reader is introduced to the art of forensic science, which didn’t come into existence until after the mid-century mark. Before forensic science became a legitimate area of study, those who practiced forensics were known as “bone doctors.” Dr. Krogman, who taught at the University of Pennsylvania, was one of these “doctors.” Krogman, along with University of Kentucky professor, Dr. Charles E. Snow, was able to spark Dr. Bill Bass’ interest in forensic. Bass explains that he got involved in the anthropology department at the University of Kentucky, although he had planned to be a councilor. After reviewing the remains of a car accident with Snow, Bass’ interest in forensic science increased. Bass excitedly describes how forensic scientists identify bodies by looking at the skull size, the pelvic opening, the teeth, and the sutures of a corpse. Bass admits that years after studying under Snow and Krogman, he still can feel their presence at a crime scene. Such was the case when he reviewed the bones of Charles Lindbergh’s murdered son in order to clear the convicted murderer’s name.
Dead Indians and Dam Engineers
In this chapter, Bass describes his fourteen summers working in South Dakota, studying Indian remains. Quick excavation of the Indian remains was crucial because many engineers were being brought in to dam up the Missouri River. Once the river was dammed water would cover what was left of the Indian sites. Excavators quickly uncovered the ancient village of the Arikara; however, no graves were uncovered. No one knew where the dead had been buried. Bass was able to find the graves thanks to the loess soil of South Dakota. The loess allows ants to dig deep tunnels. Ants by nature bring up food to the tops of their tunnels. Bass studied the ant hills and found little pieces of Arikara bodies. Bass told the excavators where to dig and by 1965, roughly four thousand bodies were dug up and studied.
. Bare Bones: Forensics 101
Bass explains that between the summers of excavation, he taught at the University of Kansas. Something he always taught he students was that bone remembers everything. Bones can help identify the “big four”: sex, race, age, and stature. In 1962, Bass was given a body found near the Missouri river. The body’s small skull showed that it was either female or a child. The mouth was narrow, the chin pointed, and the forehead gracile; this also characteristic of a woman. Because there were wisdom teeth grown in, Bass could say for sure that the body was that of an adult. The pubic symphysis had smoothed, thus pinpointing the age at somewhere around twenty and thirty. Sutures on the skull were beginning to fuse, Bass concluded the woman had been 28. The body displayed prognathism (“forward jaw”), which is characteristic of negroids. The bones themselves were denser and the nasal opening was broad, both characteristic of negroid bodies. Finally stature had to be identified. Bass used Mildred Troter and Goldine Gleser’s formula. By measuring the femur, Bass was able to determine height. In the end, Bass finally identified the body as Mary Louise Downing, proving the power of bone study.