Interpreting Gunshot Trauma as Context Clue: A Case Study from Historic North Las Vegas, Nevada

Traumatic injuries found on human skeletal remains, whether recently deceased or from long ago, are a direct source of evidence for anthropologists to generate information concerning the nature of violent human interactions among victims, witnesses, and aggressors. An anthropological approach to understanding instances of violence is important because it can help to advance theories which explain the causes and common consequences of warfare and violence among humans, as the bones offer data to validate or nullify hypotheses about violent human behavior in the past (Walker 2001). However, anthropology is not always simply a theoretical endeavor as the work done by forensic anthropologists has practical applications and directly impacts the living. Anthropological methods can also be used to identify traumatic injuries to assist in reconstructing the circumstances around an individual's death. In cases where whole communities are suspected to have been violently murdered, trauma data generated by forensic anthropologists can be invaluable in advancing human rights action on behalf of victimized communities (Komar and Buikstra 2008).