Thursday 12 January 2012

Stab happy

Happy New Year to my readers! I'm back after a long, and I think, well deserved, break. I had a lovely, quiet Christmas, and plenty of time at home, which I relished.
Anyway, back to the forensics - that's what you're here for, after all.
Today, I have been creating specimens for my students to study in their next module, Further Forensic Anthropology: Identification. In this module, the students will learn about skeletal trauma and pathology, as well as have the chance to watch a real post-mortem examination. I'll be giving them an exercise in which they have to examine wounds made in bone by a variety of weapons, analyse the wounds and determine which weapon made the marks. So... I've had a great deal of fun stabbing cow bones with knives and screwdrivers (anything to hand, really) to my heart's content today, and woe betide anyone who has got in my way! I have ended up with blood-splattered safety specs and little bone chips in my hair, but hey, who cares?