Skeletal Trauma

This second edition of Skeletal Trauma: Forensic Anthropology and Legal Medicine in Human Rights Investigations delves into the identification and analysis of skeletal injuries, focusing on their role in uncovering the cause and manner of death in cases of homicide, human rights violations, and armed conflicts.

By presenting diverse wound patterns, practical case studies, and detailed discussions on the pathophysiology of injuries, it provides investigators with the tools needed to interpret trauma effectively, even in challenging conditions. The book emphasizes the integration of forensic anthropology and legal medicine within broader frameworks of international criminal law and transitional justice. This includes examining how forensic evidence is used to address large-scale atrocities, such as genocide, extrajudicial executions, and terrorism, while also highlighting the importance of truth commissions and restorative justice in post-conflict societies. Comprehensive coverage of trauma mechanisms—ranging from blunt and sharp injuries to gunfire and blast trauma—provides a structured approach to analyzing physical evidence, ensuring that investigations meet the highest standards of reliability and applicability in diverse legal contexts.

Skeletal Trauma highlights the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration, the use of innovative technologies, and the need for accessible forensic methods in resource-limited settings. The book serves as a vital resource for investigators and professionals working in forensic science, anthropology, and legal medicine, as well as students who wish to deepen their understanding of the field.

Erin H. Kimmerle, Ph.D., is a Forensic Anthropologist and the Executive Director/Founder of the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science at the University of South Florida where she currently works as a Professor of Anthropology. Kimmerle has been involved in projects with National Geographic Explorers, in the search for Amelia Earhart, the International Committee for the Red Cross, the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Administration, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the United Nations ICTY, and numerous other international collaborators. Her recent book, WE CARRY THEIR BONES: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys, William Morrow, Harper Collins (2022) is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it, detailing the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families—an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America. For her work on this project, she received the Hillsborough County Bar Association: Liberty Bell Award, given to an “outstanding non-lawyer citizen whose community service strengthens the effectiveness of the American system under the law,” the AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award for “scientists whose exemplary actions have demonstrated scientific freedom and/or responsibility in challenging circumstances,” and more recently the Herbert Feis Award for Public History, awarded by the American Historical Association.

José Pablo Baraybar, Ph.D., is a forensic anthropologist and has worked for 30+ years as an expert witness for the United Nations, the Inter-American system, Judicial courts in Peru and currently serves as a Forensic Coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Mexico and Central America. He is the author of numerous scientific articles and three books, the autobiography La muerte a diario (Lima: Estruendomudo, 2012) and two fiction Las partes del todo (Planeta 2024) and La noche es azul (in press). He received the UN 21 Awards (2006) for his work in the creation of the Office of Missing Persons and Forensic Sciences in Kosovo and the Judith Lee Stronach Award (2011) for the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA). Baraybar is Founder and former Executive Director of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF). His beginnings as a student of archaeology at a public university were during the internal armed conflict that plagued Peru between 1980 and 2000. Baraybar is certified by the Latin American Directory of Forensic Anthropology (DLAF-02). His early relationship with Amnesty International as a grassroots member shaped his vision between science and activism, from the perspective that the objective (science) should not be opposed to the affective (activism). His professional experience, which spans all continents and includes Genocide, the forced disappearance of persons, and other Crimes Against Humanity did not neglect this counterpoint between science and activism.