Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2011 | Page 37

FORENSICS JOURNAL

disease, with 77% (20 out of 26) of her teeth exhibiting dental caries
in the form of cavities. Eight of the 20 decayed teeth were restored
with gold fillings, and seven were restored with amalgam fillings. By
1920, the restoration work observed on 29% (seven out of 24) of the
teeth from Paul Harvey Cushing Richards consists of only amalgam
fillings, some containing copper. The evolution of dental restorative
material used to restore the function, integrity and morphology of the
missing tooth structure is visibly apparent in the individuals from the
Richards’ family vault.

Age and Sex
This series consisted of three adult females, one elderly male, one
sub-adult male, two female children, three infants (one female and
two undetermined), and one fetus that was not assessed for sex. Ages
ranged from five months in utero to 72 years old. The names and
ages of eight of the individuals interred in the vault were provided by
both Joseph Richards III and the Historic Congressional Cemetery
(Appendix A). The sex of seven individuals was confirmed using various methods that examine the morphological features of the pelvic
region, size of the mastoid processes, robusticity of the long bones,
and morphological features of the mandible. An age range was identified for all of the individuals exhumed from the vault and was used
in combination with available historical information to identify each
individual. Ages of the children were determined using tooth crown
development and stages of dental wear, evidence of lambdoidal suture
closure, long bone diaphysis lengths, and epiphyseal union.

Taphonomy
The skeletal remains in this series are generally in poor condition.
Many of the remains are severely damaged, with postmortem corrosion and breakage caused by the decomposition process of brushite
formation. The rem