ANT 211 Fundamentals of Forensi

Features are parts of bones where muscles attach, or where a bone enters into a joint with another bone. Shapes and features assist the osteologist in making assessments of growth and development, sex, muscularity, or injury. Here in this lecture, the general meanings of features are explained. When we begin learning the different bones, these features will have more specific names. It's similar to learning "lemons" before learning "lemon meringue pie" and "lemonade."

Only some of the more common features are listed below. Know that there are many more, but learning the more common ones first will make it easier to learn additional ones later. And, because this course is not a human osteology course, I'm presenting only the rudimentary concepts of osteology to you so you can see how forensic anthropologists use this type of information in analyses to determine an unknown individual's identity.

As you read through the general features below, flip through your Burns textbook to spot where these feature names appear in different bones. Seeing where the features are and what they look like will help you better comprehend the definitions.

1.	Crest	A ridge, usually sharp. Covers a section of bone rather than being one spot. Think of the crest of a wave, how it travels across unlike the tip of an arrow which is sharp but not like a ridge.
2.	Spine	A spine is a sharp protuberance. In some cases spines are more localized, similar to stalactites and stalacmites in a cave. In other cases, spines travel some distance, like when we refer to the series of vertebrae as your spinal column.
3.	Process	A projecting point, not necessary sharp.
4.	Protuberance	A bump, or protrusion. Generally, rounded and dull.
5.	Tuberosity	A raised area of bone.
6.	Tubercle	A little tuberosity.
7.	Trochanter	A large tuberosity.
8.	Groove	A shallow canal-like depression. Think of a small creek, travelling in the woods. Blood vessels travel through grooves in bone.
9.	Fossa	A shallow depression. Think of a small pond, or the concave part of a satellite dish.
10.	Foramen	A hole or opening in bone for blood vessels.
11.	Condyle	A rounded portion of bone. It's smooth, for articulation (connecting) of bones. A condyle on one bone usually articulates with a fossa on another bone. A rounded feature fits into a concave feature.
12.	Facet	Smooth area of bone for articulation. Pronounced "fah-SET".