Reconstruction of facial features from the skull: An evaluation of its usefulness in forensic anthropology

Abstract

Abstract Although facial reconstructions from the skull have been widely used in forensic anthropology, their effectiveness has not been objectively assessed. Photographs of two reconstructions produced in this laboratory were shown to FAA employees and local policemen who were asked to select the subject's in vivo photograph when included with those of six other randomly‐selected individuals of the same sex, race, and general age. While in both tests the reconstruction subject was chosen with significantly greater frequency than the controls, the results ranged from 26% correct (N = 104) on the first subject, a 67‐year‐old female, to 67% correct (N = 200) on the second, a 36‐year‐old male. In both tests policemen and civilian females performed better than civilian males.