The Science of Skeletons: What Bones Can (and Can’t) Tell Us
By Jennifer Graeser Dornbush
In the spirit of all things spooky, creepy and Halloweenie, let’s talk skeletons and what they tell our hero investigators about their murder victims.
Growing up in a coroner’s world, I learned that skeletal remains hold a kind of truth that outlasts everything else—identity, memory, even flesh. Bones remember. They record. They carry the quiet history of a life lived, right up to the moment it ended.
Bones don’t lie.
Let’s look at what bones can reveal with scientific accuracy… and where we writers can push beyond the boundaries while keeping our stories authentic and entertaining.
What Bones Can Tell Us
1. Age (Within a Reasonable Range)
Anthropologists can often estimate a person’s age at death by examining:
- epiphyseal fusion (how long bones join at their growth plates)
- cranial suture closure
- dental wear and eruption patterns
- bone density changes
Children and teens can be aged fairly precisely because their bones change rapidly on predictable timelines. Adults are trickier—the range becomes broader as we age, often spanning 5–10 years or more. Elderly adults are often placed into very broad brackets (“60+”) because degenerative changes vary widely depending on lifestyle, health, and nutrition.
One detail writers often miss: age estimates become less reliable when the skeleton is incomplete. A single long bone might give a ballpark range, but a full skeleton allows a multi-point evaluation and more confidence.
📌 Writers: Avoid giving an exact age like “34.” Anthropologists don’t speak that precisely unless the case includes supporting evidence.
2. Biological Sex (When Enough Bone Is Present)
The pelvis is the gold standard. Its shape, subpubic angle, and sciatic notch hold clear clues. The skull also offers markers—brow ridges, mastoid processes, jaw angle—but these are secondary indicators and less reliable on their own.
Accuracy increases when multiple indicators align, and confidence decreases sharply with incomplete or fragmentary remains. Hormone therapy, childhood malnutrition, and congenital differences can all blur the expected patterns, meaning even textbook traits aren’t always foolproof.
📌 Writers: If the pelvis is missing, anthropologists often phrase findings with caution: “biologically consistent with male,” not “definitely male.”
3. Ancestry (But Never With Certainty)
Contrary to what some crime series suggest, forensic anthropologists cannot state a person’s “race.” Instead, they may identify skeletal traits that statistically correlate with certain ancestral backgrounds—facial bone structure, nasal aperture shape, dental features like shovel-shaped incisors, or cranial index trends.
These are probabilities, not identities. Many people do not present textbook traits, especially in a multicultural society where ancestry is complex and blended.
📌 Writers: Emphasize probability, not absolute identity. Anthropologists work in “likelihoods,” not certainties.
4. Stature (Height Range)
Using formulas based on long bones—usually the femur, tibia, or humerus—scientists can estimate height with an accuracy range of a few inches. These formulas vary slightly by ancestry and biological sex, which adds even more nuance to the reconstruction.
📌 Writers: Don’t give a precise height like “5’10.” Use ranges: “between 5’8 and 5’11.”
5. Evidence of Trauma
This is one area where bones shine. Anthropologists can distinguish between:
Perimortem Trauma
Injury around the time of death—fractures with smooth, sharp edges and bending consistent with fresh bone.
Antemortem Trauma
Older injuries—healed fractures, remodeled bone, surgical implants.
Postmortem Damage
Breaks occurring after death—more jagged, brittle, and without biological response.
Anthropologists can also identify trauma patterns that reflect interpersonal violence—defensive wounds, repeated strikes, blunt vs. sharp-force trauma, and sometimes even directionality of force.
📌 Writers: Fresh breaks and old breaks look completely different under microscope and to the trained eye.
6. Lifestyle Clues
Long-term habits leave marks—literally.
Anthropologists can identify:
- repetitive stress injuries
- arthritis patterns
- certain occupations (e.g., heavy lifting)
- dental wear from specific diets
- nutritional deficiencies (porotic hyperostosis, enamel hypoplasia)
- healed fractures consistent with childhood accidents, sports, or violence
A life lived physically demanding work—like farming, manual labor, or elite athletics—often leaves distinctive signatures on the skeleton. Even habits like pipe smoking or chronic childhood illness can show up in subtle but telling patterns.
These clues paint a picture not just of how someone died, but how they lived—their health, labor, struggles, and resilience.
What Bones Cannot Tell Us
This is where fiction loves to stretch for the sake of entertainment. Be careful treading on this territory.
1. Personality or Emotions
Bones cannot tell you:
- the victim was athletic (unless supported by robust muscle attachments)
- the victim was cheerful
- the victim was “a fighter”
- the victim struggled with depression
Skeletal remains record biology, not biography. They hold structural truth, not emotional truth. A healed fracture may show resilience and health indicators, but it cannot reveal whether a person was kind, cruel, introverted, or lonely. These details belong to the psychological and social worlds—journals, digital footprints, witness interviews, personal effects—not the bones themselves.
📌 Writers: Keep internal traits internal. Bones don’t reveal emotional states.
2. Some Causes of Death
Unless the trauma affects bone—gunshot wound to skull, sharp-force trauma to ribs, strangulation fracturing the hyoid—many causes of death leave no skeletal trace at all.
- Poisoning
- Smothering
- Drowning
- Cardiac arrest
- Hypothermia
Bones are silent on these. Even in cases with perimortem trauma, anthropologists still rely heavily on contextual evidence from the medical examiner, investigators, and crime scene analysis.
📌 Writers: Anthropologists often use the phrase “cause of death undetermined” without shame or drama—it’s a scientific reality.
3. Exact Time Since Death
Skeletal remains are notoriously difficult to date. Environmental factors—soil chemistry, temperature, humidity, insect activity, scavenging—can accelerate or slow decomposition unpredictably.
Anthropologists can give broad windows (“several months to a few years”), but bones cannot pinpoint the hour, day, or even reliably the season. Even “fresh” vs. “older” remains can blur when the environment is extreme.
📌 Writers: Avoid pinpoint decomposition timelines from skeletons alone.
4. Detailed Eyewitness Descriptions
Bones cannot reveal:
- hair color
- eye color
- scars on skin
- tattoos
- freckles
- gait (except in severe deformity cases)
Despite what television suggests, forensic anthropologists cannot conjure a photographic likeness from a skull. At best, they create approximations, using tissue-depth markers and artistic interpretation based on averages—not specific individual traits.
📌 Writers: Facial reconstructions are artistic approximations, not forensic certainties.
Where Fiction Cam Overreach
Let’s talk about those moments that make forensic anthropologists groan:
❌ “The bones show she was murdered right here at 8 p.m.”
Not possible.
❌ “We know she was a runner because her femurs are strong.”
Strong bones ≠ running.
Muscle attachments reveal repetitive stress—but not specific sports.
❌ “We matched the skeleton to a missing person by cheekbone shape alone.”
Impossible without DNA, dental records, or unique surgical implants.
❌ “The bones say the victim was happy.”
Bones do not record mood.
❌ “This fracture proves the killer was left-handed.”
Force direction is complex and rarely that conclusive.
How Writers Can Use Skeleton Science
The secret to realistic forensic fiction is simple:
Follow the limits — and let the uncertainty create tension.
Some of the most gripping scenes come from what the remains cannot tell investigators.
Writers often think more certainty equals more drama. But the opposite is true.
In real crime labs, ambiguity drives conflict, teamwork, and urgency. It leaves space for your detectives, MEs, and anthropologists to disagree—and disagreement drives story.
Here are ways to use skeletal limits to your advantage:
✔️ Use broad ranges (age, height, ancestry) to keep the investigation open.
✔️ Let characters debate the meaning of trauma patterns.
✔️ Allow missing pieces of bone to stall the case.
✔️ Introduce scientific caution as a personality trait for your forensic experts.
✔️ Let DNA or dental records be the turning point—not the bones alone.
These choices ground your story in truth while deepening the suspense.
The Humanity in the Bones
When I look at skeletal remains—even fictional ones—I see more than evidence.
I see the outline of a life.
Bones record:
- injuries survived
- hardships endured
- nourishment given or withheld
- age, growth, and decline
They hold our histories quietly, without embellishment or judgment.
And that, to me, is where the deepest storytelling power lies.
As writers, we’re not just reconstructing death; we’re reconstructing humanity.
Bones tell a story.
Not the whole story.
Not every detail.
But enough to begin.
As a storyteller, investigator, or crime-fiction lover— we can find a balance that honors the truth, lets the science shine and entertains.
Happy Spooky Season! Stay curious!
Jennifer
Jennifer Dornbush is an author, screenwriter, and forensic specialist who brings crime stories to life with authenticity and heart. WALKING ON WHITE, the latest novel in The Coroner’s Daughter mystery series drops October 20. With a background rooted in real-world forensics and a passion for crafting unforgettable mysteries, Jennifer offers readers and viewers a front-row seat to the intersection of science, justice, and human nature. Jennifer’s crime expertise has made her a sought-after speaker, consultant, and educator. Through her webinars and master course, WRITING THE KILLER CRIME SERIES, Jennifer guides writers in melding suspenseful storytelling with forensic realism to the screen and page.
Join her community at http://www.jenniferdornbush.com/
