title: Study on the criteria for assessing skull-face correspondence in craniofacial superimposition.
abstract: Craniofacial superimposition has the potential to be used as an identification method when other traditional biological techniques are not applicable due to insufficient quality or absence of ante-mortem and post-mortem data. Despite having been used in many countries as a method of inclusion and exclusion for over a century it lacks standards. Thus, the purpose of this research is to provide forensic practitioners with standard criteria for analysing skull-face relationships. Thirty-seven experts from 16 different institutions participated in this study, which consisted of evaluating 65 criteria for assessing skull-face anatomical consistency on a sample of 24 different skull-face superimpositions. An unbiased statistical analysis established the most objective and discriminative criteria. Results did not show strong associations, however, important insights to address lack of standards were provided. In addition, a novel methodology for understanding and standardizing identification methods based on the observation of morphological patterns has been proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; European Centre for Soft Computing, Mieres, Spain. Electronic address: Oscar.ibanez@decsai.ugr.es.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ibáñez
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Soft Computing, Mieres, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valsecchi
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Paleoradiology and Allied Sciences, Ospedali Riuniti di Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cavalli
authors.affiliation: Physical Anthropology Laboratory, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: María Isabel
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Huete
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Soft Computing, Mieres, Spain.
authors.forename: Blanca Rosario
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Campomanes-Alvarez
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Soft Computing, Mieres, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campomanes-Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Forensic Sciences Centre (CENCIFOR), Coimbra, Portugal; Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: Forensic Sciences Centre (CENCIFOR), Coimbra, Portugal; Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navega
authors.affiliation: Department Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 5TF, UK.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Rimantas
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jankauskas
authors.affiliation: National Research Institute of Police Science, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imaizumi
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hardiman
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Program, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Paul Thomas
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Jayaprakash
authors.affiliation: Legal Medicine School, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Identification - Criminalist Service, Civil Guard, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Molinero
authors.affiliation: Department of Identification - Criminalist Service, Civil Guard, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lestón
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Elizaveta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Veselovskaya
authors.affiliation: Main Department of Criminalistics Investigation Committee of Russia, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abramov
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
authors.forename: Maryna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steyn
authors.affiliation: Crime Scene Investigation Section, Forensic Laboratory, Portuguese Criminal Police, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Public Ministry, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Humpire
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Paleoradiology and Allied Sciences, Ospedali Riuniti di Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lusnig
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Antropología e Odontologia Forense, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gibelli
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Antropología e Odontologia Forense, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mazzarelli
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Antropología e Odontologia Forense, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaudio
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Antropología e Odontologia Forense, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Collini
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Soft Computing, Mieres, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Damas
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D010781:Photography; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Craniofacial identification; Craniofacial relationships; Craniofacial superimposition; Forensic anthropology; Physical anthropology; Skull-face overlay