
The Kirsten Skeletal Collection

| The Kirsten skeletal collection is a repository of human skeletons derived from the cadaver donation programme at the Division of Clinical Anatomy, at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences on Tygerberg campus. This repository is used for education and research as stipulated in the legislation of the Human Tissue Act, Act 65 of 1983, and the National Health Act, Act 61 of 2003. Alblas et al. 2018 |
Biological Anthropology
For any enquiries about the Biological Anthropology Research Unit, please contact Dr Mandi Alblas.
 
| Studies on the health status of skeletal remains (bone and teeth) give insight into the standard of living of past populations and have value to descendants living today. Research underway in the Biological Anthropology Research Unit at Clinical Anatomy has application in: 1. Teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students to improve techniques by providing haptic learning material. 2. Physical anthropology to improve knowledge on human variation, trauma and pathology as seen on bones. 3. Forensic Science assisting in victim identification. 4. Providing anatomical or osteological information for prosthetic implants and surgical techniques in a clinical setting. |
Forensic Anthropology: ViSUN Unit
For enquiries about the forensic application of biological anthropology, please contact Dr
Mandi Alblas.
| Forensic anthropology is the application of biological anthropology to the legal process. The ViSUN unit (Victim identification @ Stellenbosch University) assists the Victim Identification Centre (VIC) of the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Forensic Pathology Services (FPS) of Cape Town with possible identification of unknown skeletal / decomposed / burnt human remains when other identifiers (DNA & fingerprinting) cannot be used.
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