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The recovery and analysis of human remains from the Branch Davidian Compound, Mount Carmel, Texas, was a multidisciplinary team effort. This presentation deals with one aspect of the forensic anthropological contribution to this collaborative endeavor—the examination and inventory of human skeletal remains and the interpretation of these osteological data. Briefly described first are the content and format of the skeletal inventory and the examination procedures used for data collection. Two subsequent sections illustrate the use of these data to determine (a) age, sex, ancestry, stature, and other distinguishing characteristics, and (b) the presence and nature of any premortem, perimortem, and postmortem trauma. The next section shows how these findings assist in establishing positive identification through, for example, comparison with medical, dental, and other background records, especially comparison of premortem and postmortem radiographs of bones or dentition. In this context, we consider also the sorting of commingled remains, which includes preliminary assessment of rapidly decomposing remains prior to autopsy to preserve information crucial to identification.

This study documents racial variation in the intercondylar shelf angle. The intercondylar shelf is actually the “roof” of the intercondylar notch, and on a lateral radiograph of the femur this is a distinctive feature called Blumensaat's Line. The angle between Blumensaat's Line and the posterior shaft of the femur can be quickly and easily measured. Variations in this angle are not dependent on the size of the femur, nor is the angle affected by arthritis in the notch or by trauma to the articular surfaces. Even fragmentary femora can be measured. This is a non-invasive technique that can be used in skeletal cases as well as cases where there are intact soft tissues.