Theses and Dissertations

Petra Banks

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Zuckerman, Molly K.

Committee Member

Osterholtz, Anna J.

Committee Member

Miller, Darcy Shane

Committee Member

Damann, Franklin

Date of Degree

12-8-2017

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Applied Anthropology

Degree Name

Master of Arts

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures

Abstract

In order to examine the feasibility of assessing blast event conditions from bone and to distinguish blast trauma from aircraft crash trauma, this study attempts to determine if the observations made in clinical research are mirrored in skeletal remains of individuals who died in blast events. Research was conducted by assessing the frequency of different forms of trauma and their comparison to aircraft crash trauma, the directionality of trauma, and open-air versus enclosed blast trauma. Data consisted of historic and forensic anthropology reports of individuals who died from blast events and aircraft crashes from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). The results indicate a difference in the projectile/comminuted trauma between aircraft crash trauma and blast events, and that directionality is present in blast event fractures but should be used judiciously to determine blast direction. A sample of one open-air blast individual precluded assessment of enclosed versus open-air blast events.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/18884

Comments

blast trauma||blast injury||forensic anthropology||aircraft crash||DPAA

Download

Share

COinS