Skull re-assembly and the implications for forensic facial reconstruction

Skull re-assembly and the implications for forensic facial reconstruction C WILKINSON and R NEAVE Unit of Art in Medicine, The University of Manchestel; United Kingdom One of the goals of forensic science is the identification of an individual from the presented remains. In some cases an attempt to reconstruct the face from the skull may be considered [1,2]. This 3-dimensional facial reconstruction technique follows an anatomical method, whilst using average tissue depth measurements as guides. The skull may be FIGURE 1 The reassembled and remodelled skull of the fire intact and in good condition, but sadly the majority of cases victim. present damaged and fragmented skulls which may also have missing areas. The remains must be reassembled before any facial reconstruction can be produced. Since the structure and detail of the skull directly determines the shape and form of the features of the face, the whole reconstruction process will be compromised if this procedure is not carried out accurately.