Anthropology is a field of science that deals with the systematic study of humans-the population, evolution, adaptation, genetics and origin of linguistics. It is a relatively new field that began only in the late 1800’s.
“ ANTHROPO (Anthropos) - man, human
OLOGY (Logos) – study “
Anthropology incorporates disciplines such as sociology, psychology, political science, economics, history, human biology and philosophy.
Anthropologists study human population to understand the following:
(1) The appearance and origin of humanity
(2) Evolution of human kind
(3) Diversity and variation in modern humans
(4) Change in customary practices and ideas.
Forensic Anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that applies the practices and methods
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The ring finger was longer than the index finger in both sexes. Sex differences of p>0.05 were found in both digit lengths. However, no such difference was observed in the index and ring finger ratio. The predictive accuracy in sex estimation ranged between 70%-75% for Rajbanshi population.
Limitations:
(1) The study was conducted on live individuals instead of deceased.
(2) The findings of this study cannot be applied to children or young adults.
(3) After death, as a result of rigor mortis or putrefactive changes, the length and other dimensions of the fingers may alter.
Hence these results can only be applied to cases where fresh dismembered remains are encountered. Such remains should not exhibit post-mortem changes. It is not applicable for desiccated, decomposed, and bloated bodies that may affect hand dimensions.
Conclusion:
Finger lengths can be used to determine sex of an individual. Hence from this research paper, it can be concluded that the result obtained can be used only when other extremities are not available for medico-legal examination. The analysis of index and ring lengths can be used for sex determination when no other reliable means is available medico legal