Inside the Facial Approximation Research Project
at the University of Tennessee’s Body Farm
In 2006 I created a research project with the FBI Laboratory and the Forensic Anthropology Center in Knoxville, TN, to collect digital scans of known donor skulls and the accompanying life photos for research and study of forensic facial approximations. Other than low-resolution black and white images from textbooks, forensic artists had no way to study the accuracy of their work, and no resource to compare skulls with photos of the individual to make crucial determinations on their facial approximations.
The “Body Farm” project solved this problem. Our team collected over 100 skulls scan with numerous high-resolution life photos, giving the FBI the first 3D digital collection of contemporary skulls. My colleagues and I used this data to inform our own casework, giving us more accurate depictions of the individuals for identification. We also shared this information by teaching facial approximation to forensic artists throughout the country at no cost to their agency.
Multiple views of donor skulls were taken.
I can't describe the thrill of seeing this sign inside the entrance!
Cleaning skulls at the end of a end of a long day at the Body Farm.
Working inside the FBI Laboratory, and yes those are real skulls on the right!
At the Body Farm. No need to wear gloves since these aren't forensic cases.
Aligning the skull for photography. The laser level makes this SO much easier!
The upside-down skulls have been scanned, the rest are waiting their turn.
I positioned the skull on a camera tripod so I could calibrate the views of the skull.
A look at what syphilis can do to the skull.
The space we had to work in was barely 5 feet wide. And in the boxes on the left....? Full skeletons.
I never knew that the styloid process could be this long; they were usually broken by the time they got to my desk.