ANT 211 Fundamentals of Forensi

There are seven terms that are crucial for speaking the language of anatomy. An understanding of these terms helps simplify communication about the body--soft tissues and hard tissues (bones), among all people involved in the forensic sciences. Many of the terms have Latin roots, so I will also provide you with the meanings of the word roots so that if you forget what a term means, you can pretty much figure it out once you understand the meanings of the roots...

1.	Anatomical Position	This is the standard position to orient the skeleton or a body. All the bones are lined up evenly, and everyone knows "right" or "left" instead of asking "is it my right or your right?". Anatomical position is when the body is lying supine (meaning flat on it's back) palms up, or standing up, front foward with palms up.
2.	Anterior	"ante" means in front of, or before. Anterior is the front of the body. It's also the front of a bone, in anatomical position.
3.	Posterior	"post" means back, behind, or after. Posterior is the back of the body. It's also the back of a bone, in anatomical position.
4.	Lateral	"lat" is to the side (think of latitude); it is the part of the body, or bone or feature or landmark that is oriented away from midline. Your arm is lateral to your body. Your thumb, in anatomical position (i.e. palms up) is lateral to your fingers, etc.
5.	Medial	"med" is toward the middle; it's the part of the body, or bone or feature or landmark that is oriented closer to midline than something else. Your body is medial to your arm. Your fingers are medial when compared to your thumb in anatomical position. It connotes that something is nearer to the midline than something else, but not necessary right at a midpoint.
6.	Superior	"super" means above, beyond, greater than. Superior means above, or the top, or higher than.
7.	Inferior	"infer" means below, under, less than. Inferior means lower than, or bottom.