Anaya Garg

During a forensic investigation the observance and recognition of bone surface modifications, which is often done at the microscopic level, are critical for recreating peri and postmortem behaviors that can lead death investigators to information regarding time and cause of death.
While these modifications are often examined at the microscopic level, the surfaces of bone and their inherent variation in roughness, due to variation in function at the diaphysis, metaphysis, and enthesis, have not been exhaustively studied at the same microscopic level. This research will use confocal white light profilometry to scan entire bones for detailed quantitative information regarding the changes in microscopic surface roughness across the surface of an entire bone that will be then analyzed using advanced surface texture analysis. We will then test the hypothesis that changes in the microscopic surface roughness of bone will alter the identification of bone surface modifications created by the same object. Results show that there are statistically significant changes in microscopic surface roughness at the metaphysis, diaphysis, and enthesis of a single bone. Furthermore, these differences will affect the identification of a surface modification created by the same object at these locations. These results suggest that the microscopic surface roughness of bone changes based on the function of the bone’s surface and that these microscopic changes will affect the way surface modifications are identified. Therefore a more comprehensive understanding of microscopic bone surface structure is warranted to better understand the way bone surface modifications are created and identified. Further research will include scanning all bone types to assess where variation is the greatest to better understand the etiology and identification of bone surface modifications.