Trauma is defined as an injury to living tissue or the skeletal system caused by an outside force impacting the body. The study of trauma, its origins, manifestations, causes, characteristics, and consequences are a large and important component in the arsenal of the forensic anthropologist. Opportunities for study and investigations are endless and exciting. There are a wide range of scenarios to study trauma however four of these scenarios are illustrated in the four articles that have been reviewed.
Screwdrivers are not considered a weapon in reference to homicide. Because of this, there is little information in the literature about the types of injuries caused by either type of screwdriver (phillips or a flathead). An experiment was conducted in 2007 to further examine the macroscopic differences in wounds and trauma caused by each type of screwdriver on skin and bone. To simulate the human flesh and bone, cadavers of pigs were used. Pig skin is very similar in its properties to human skin. Some subcutaneous fat was first removed from the bodies to make them more "human" (humans generally have less subcutaneous fat than pigs), and different types of clothing were placed on a few pigs to further simulate the human body, while prepping for this experiment. After the prepping was over, the pigs were stabbed multiple times by both phillips and flathead screwdrivers. The stab wounds showed that there were multiple types of macroscopic injury, particularly to the bone, and each was fairly characteristic of type of screwdriver involved. The skin injuries were also found to be consistent with type of screwdriver used. Flathead screwdrivers left a narrow rectangular mark on the bone while the phillips screwdriver left a cross shaped mark on the bone. The experiment concluded that the macroscopic injuries that occurred can be differentiated. When a subject is stabbed by a screwdriver puncture wounds and fractures to the bone occur, and are specific to the type of screwdriver used.
