154 Forensic dentistrywheel.” An alert pathologist observed that there was too little blood at the site
where the tire rolled over the skull, and called for an anthropological exami-
nation. Reassembly of some eighty-five fragments revealed three suspicious
patterned injuries that later proved to have been caused when the victim
was struck repeatedly with a socket wrench. She had exsanguinated else-
where before being dumped on the road. It is essential that all fragments be
examined carefully for transferred evidence or for a more detailed toolmark
analysis. Experienced examiners will recall instances of wood splinters, glass
fragments, bits of paint, etc., embedded in bone later to be associated with a
bat or a broken bottle with complementary bone chips, hair, or dried blood.
Occasionally, one encounters remains that bear blunt injury defects that
appear to have been made by more than one kind of object. Such findings
may indeed represent the work of more than one assailant, but most often
will have been caused by repeated application of the same object at different
striking angles, the classic example being crescent and round depressions on
a skull from application of the edge and flat face, respectively, of the same
hammer. Compound implements are of particular interest in this regard. The
author once examined remains bearing several crescent depressions and one
elongated full-thickness fracture on the skull, and a small rectangular punch-
out on the sternum. The implement, later associated with the assault, was a
tire tool. The lug wrench end, applied at an angle, produced the crescent frac-
tures while the handle had created the elongated depressed parietal break as
well as a defensive fracture of the ulna. The nib, rectangular in cross section,
was a perfect fit for the defect in the sternum. Other examples are provided
by roofing hammers, ball peen hammers, single-bladed hatchets, etc., all of
which produce at least two kinds of patterned injuries, depending on which
side is applied to the target. Where blunt force injuries are concerned, a
three-dimensional imagination and an occasional stroll through the local
hardware store are the examiner’s best analytical tools.^608.2.7.3 Postmortem Trauma
Postmortem trauma is an important category of damage in skeletal remains
that must be distinguished from insults occurring near the time of death.
Although, strictly speaking, the “fall following a coronary” cited above
qualifies as postmortem trauma, the phrase is most often used to describe
modifications of remains that occur some time after death. Forensic anthro-
pologists will recognize several categories of effects stemming from natural
and anthropogenic causes. (1) In cases where remains are exposed, skeletal
components may be damaged by movement due to natural forces. As bones
disarticulate, they may be scattered by water or wind, depending on the slope
of the terrain and the amount of water running across it. Fluvial transport
often results in damage to ribs and the delicate structures of the skull base,
depending on water velocity and distance traveled. As bones dry, some of