Anthropological Research Facility

The Research Facility, begun in 1972 by Dr. William M. Bass, provides an ideal setting to scientifically document postmortem change. This outdoor field laboratory enables the investigation of parameters which are crucial in time since death estimates. Donated remains make this research possible and simultaneously provide a modern osteological teaching collection. Presently, this demographically-rich collection consists of almost 400 skeletons. These individuals are essential for providing education and training in forensic anthropology and skeletal biology for students and law enforcement agencies. They are also invaluable for updating demographic and biological standards.

William M. Bass Forensic Skeletal Collection

The William Bass Forensic Skeletal Collection began with his tenure as State Forensic Anthropologist in the 1970's and consists of over 300 cases that have skeletal elements present. A small portion of relatively complete cases represent positively identified individuals, while most of them remain unidentified. Various types of perimortem trauma are represented in this collection such as gunshot wounds, stabbing and other sharp force injury, and blunt force trauma. The population this series derives from is predominantly from Tennessee. This collection is employed in research and teaching.

William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection

This skeletal collection was started in 1981 under the direction of Dr. Bass. The collection currently contains over 400 individuals. The goal of the body donation program is to build this collection of known individuals for research purposes. Potential research using this collection ranges from skeletal biological and forensic to dental, biomedical and genetics as well as other fields. The demographic profile includes predominantly Americans of European and African ancestry, and a smaller portion of Hispanic ancestry. The age range of the individuals is from fetal up to 101 years.

Forensic Anthropology Data Bank

The Forensic Data Bank was conceived by Dr. Richard L. Jantz to provide practicing forensic anthropologists with current data to aid in the estimation of stature, sex, and ancestry. Forensic anthropologists from around the country submit demographic, metric, and non-metric observations of their forensic cases following standardized recording procedures to the Data Bank. The Data Bank currently contains skeletal data on nearly 2000 individuals that have resulted in the development of new ancestry and sex discriminant functions. From the Data Bank, we have developed FORDISC 2.0 (a computer program).

East Tennessee Osteopathological Collection

The Osteopathological Collection includes more than 900 individuals with known demographic information. Derived from East Tennessee Medical Examiner (or autopsy) cases, the collection consists of partial human skeletal remains, mostly representing cranial portions with gunshot trauma, hyoids, and clavicles.

Regional Forensic Center

With the arrival of the new Knox County Medical Examiner, Dr. Sandra K. Elkins, the role of the Forensic Anthropology Center is experiencing welcome change. The scope of her investigations routinely involves active participation of the forensic anthropologist at necropsy to analyze skeletal biology and interpret skeletal mechanisms of trauma. A new state-of-the-art regional forensic center adjoining the University of Tennessee Medical Center opened in June 1999, and contains new necropsy facilities and a well-equipped forensic anthropology laboratory for both active casework and teaching purposes.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Forensic Anthropology Center has enjoyed a constructive research relationship with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Some of our recent research initiatives include decomposition studies as well as a collaborative effort with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Case-Western Reserve University in the development of an artificial-intelligence based computer graphic method of craniofacial reconstruction.