Forensic anthropology is an area of applied anthropology.
Forensic anthropology falls within the subfield of physical anthropology.
Forensic anthropologists apply the methods and techniques used by physical anthropologists, namely osteologists and skeletal biologists, to forensic cases. They use techniques employed by physical anthropologists to identify human skeletal remains. They analyze skeletal remains to build a profile consisting of age, race, sex, height, presence or absence of trauma, and time since death. The purpose of the profile is to aid law enforcement in positive identification of an individual when no other means are available. Sometimes it is not possible to gather all of the pertinent information because the remains may be badly damaged or fragmented.