Forensic science is the scientific method of gathering and examining information about the past.

A body is identified from the following basic facts viz. Sex, Age, Height, Race, finger prints etc. Others are shape and colour of eyes, shape of nose, colour and type of hair, mouth, teeth, ears, shape of skulls, marks - tattoos, scars, circumcision, birth marks, size and shape of limbs, condition of nails etc.

Finger print analysis : Sir William Herschel was the first to use fingerprinting for the identification of criminal suspects (1860).

DNA fingerprinting technique devised by Alec Jeffreys (1984) is used to identify individuals.

Unidentified skeltonised bodies can be identified by superimposition of their skull using computer Tomography.



In badly decayed bodies, teeth play an important role in identifying the body.