What can human bones tell us of a person’s life, or even death?

How can information from bones solve mysteries both modern and ancient? And what makes the study of skeletonised human remains so imperative in southern Africa? The answers to these and other questions are contained in Missing & Murdered, which lays bare the fascinating world of forensic anthropology.

Why is forensic anthropology important?

As the popularity of TV programmes such as the CSI trilogy and Silent Witness attests, people are fascinated by forensic science as a means of solving crimes, and in this book Alan G. Morris follows the pathway into forensics via the fields of anthropology and anatomy.

What does the book cover?

He makes the practice of forensic anthropology, the skills base of skeletal biology and the study of archaeological skeletons hugely accessible to the layperson in a series of fascinating cases, from muti murders and political killings to the work of the Missing Persons Task Team.

Overall impression

An informative, original and engrossing read from one intriguing chapter to the next.