The reason for this importance is that forensic anthropology deals with totally or partially skeletonized remains. It is through osteology that researchers can determine the age , sex , probable racial affiliation , and general stature of the person in life. The human skull is the most telling of all of the bones. The skull can be used to determine all of these particulars. However, often the skull is not available or it is not reliable due to deterioration, thus osteologists must use the bones available.
Osteology can also help to determine the length of time since death.
The first step of osteology is to have an understanding of the human skeleton . There are many terms and names to be familiar with. There are two types of traits that are looked at when dealing with skeletal remains, metric and non-metric. Metric traits are the measured variations of bones. Non-metric traits are the differences between individuals' bones that can not be measured.