This is one of my top videos I always show during this unit.

A body is found in Northern Ireland.  Not a recent murder - this body turns out to be up to 2,000 years old!  I love this video because it shows a variety of ways scientists can learn information if they only find PART of a body.

I like to use this video after my Anatomical Ratios Lab (how to find information about a body even if you only find PART of that body).

Video Questions, background and further information on TPT

Video on YouTube

This is not on the official PBS YouTube, so may not always be available.

Website for this program on the official PBS website:

This website includes links for more information and transcripts of the program.

How to buy the DVD

Unfortunately this DVD is out of print, but you can still find it!

Used on Amazon

eBay - I like to do a search and then SAVE that search so I'm alerted when a new product is posted that matches the description!

Photo credit:  

Forensic Files: Past Lives - The Madison Rutherford story

This is another video I always use in my Forensic Anthropology Unit.  I love it extra because it features an interview with my favorite Forensic Anthropologist - Dr. Bill Bass (co-author of Death's Acre).  Financial Planner Madison Rutherford goes on a trip to Mexico.  His car is found burning with a body inside.  The insurance company wants to know:  is that REALLY Madison Rutherford who burned up inside?  Dr. Bill Bass evaluates the evidence.

I usually show this video AFTER the skull lab, so that students have some background to understand the forensic science. 

Types of Evidence:  Using Skulls to determine sex and age, using teeth to determine race, arson.

Video Questions on TPT

YouTube Video Link

Photo Credit:  Pexel by Rodrigo Teixeira

A woman disappears from Austin, TX.  Investigators find a photo of her new boyfriend.  When he is located, he has the only key to her house.

Investigators discover that he reported another girlfriend missing.  

Then a skull is found,  To find out who she is, investigators use a Forensic Artists.  She uses a photo of the skull and anthropological research to draw the face of the victim.  

Types of Evidence:  Forensic drawing using a photo of a skull, Anthropology - cranial sutures and features of the skull to determine age & race.  DNA from a tooth,  Mitochondrial DNA from a hair.

Video Questions on TPT

YouTube Link to video