A smart detective knows how much may be learned from the environment in which a body has been found . . . Physical anthropologists are experts in human skeletal variation. Forensic anthropologists are physical anthropologists who apply their knowledge of human skeletal variations to civil and criminal investigations.
Forensic anthropologists solve murders.
Like archaeologists, forensic anthropologists recreate the past from rubble, according to Joyce and Stover , pgs. Dr. Ubelaker is truly one of the finest forensic sleuths of our time. As Dr. Ubelaker points out, forensic anthropologists place utmost emphasis on examination of human remains at the site or situation of discovery, or in situ , and recovering the remains themselves. Once the relationship between the remains and the environment has been disturbed, it cannot be created again with accuracy, writes Dr. Ubelaker in Bones , pg. Several other noted forensic anthropologists echo Dr. Ubelaker's sentiments.