(163). Dr. Brennan carefully uncovers the mound using a trowel, which is essentially a small, tool used to spread mortar in construction, to move away layers of dirt with precision. The scent of this recovery scene varies in that it smells like the body had been in the bag for awhile. Inside the first bag, there are thoracic bones only, indicating that the limbs may be in a separate place, which would be similar to the recovery scene of Isabelle. This recovery scene used a cadaver dog to locate the remaining bones of the still unidentified specimen. The first thing Dr. Brennan determines is if there are multiple bodies, or if the remains all belong to the same subject, and secondly, she determines what is missing, in this case, the skull, jaw, and first four vertebrae are missing. …show more content…
The bones at the wrists were sawed through, where every other site of dismemberment coincided with a joint. It is much easier to disarticulate a body at the cartilaginous joints, as opposed to the bones. Be observing the vertebrae, it can be determined that cuts have been made on the body's midline, and gone deep enough to leave marks on the spine. Even though the skull, and most of the neck bones are still missing, Dr.Brennan uses marks made on the sixth cervical vertebrae to conclude that the body was decapitated “at the midthroat” (Reichs 193). Dr. Brennan quickly mentions that the body belongs to someone who was a mother. The body had pitting on the pubic bones, which indicates childbirth. The pubic bones are very accurate at sexing a body, and determining small details such as this. Later on in the novel, someone leave the missing skull in Dr.Brennan's garden. When evaluating the skull in the lab, Dr.Brennan uses cranial sutures to determine an age, which she notes, is not highly reliable (244). Dr. Brennan is able to compare cut marks on the cervical vertebrae attached to the skull, with the sixth vertebrae found earlier, and concludes they match. With this a positive ID can be