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62 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 107 (1971)
Revised Superimposition Technique for Identification of the Individual from the Skull and Photograph, A

handle is hein.journals/jclc62 and id is 117 raw text is: THE JounNAR  OF CWIXIAL& LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE
Copyright 0 1971 by Northwestern University School of Law

Vol. 62, No. I
Printed in U.S.A.

A REVISED SUPERIMPOSITION TECHNIQUE FOR IDENTIFICATION OF
THE INDIVIDUAL FROM THE SKULL AND PHOTOGRAPH
P. CHANDRA SEKHARAN
P. Chandra Sekharan, M.A., M.Sc., is Assistant Director of the Tamil Nadu Forensic Science
Laboratory, Madras, in charge of the Physics Division. He was formerly a physicist in the Govern-
ment Erskine Hospital, Madurai. He holds an M.A. degree in Physics with electronics as special sub-
ject and an M.Sc. degree in Spectroscopy, the Annamalai University.

Identification of the dead from the skull is of
primary importance in criminal cases. It is often
necessary to undertake examinations in the
Forensic  Science  Laboratories  to  determine
whether a skull could have belonged to a particular
person whose photograph is available.
It was Professor Brash' who in 1935 first sug-
gested that the photographs of the missing person
and the skull could be superimposed as an identi-
fication technique. Since then various scientists
have utilized this technique in many criminal
cases. Mr. G. Webster2 gives a detailed description
of the superimposition technique adopted in the
Plumbago Pit case. Recently in the Corn field
crime case of Peru, Dr. BasauriP also used super-
imposed photographs, besides forensic odontology,
for identification purposes. In all these cases the
technique generally adopted has been described
as follows: From the original photograph a nega-
tive retake is made. The original photograph may
be a bust, a full length photo of the individual or a
group photograph. In any case only the face is
reproduced on the negative of definite format. The
skull is then placed on a tripod, and its position
is adjusted exactly to that of the face in the photo-
graph. It is then focused on the ground glass at
the same format. The reproduced negative is
placed on the ground glass and the image of the
skull is adjusted to super impose on the negative
and then photographed. The adjustment is made
by drawing an outline of the face or by marking
the prominent anatomical points of the face on the
ground glass. Finally the two negatives are super-
imposed to give a positive print. Then the photo-
graph is enlarged and points that are coinciding
are noted and opinion given. 
1 GIAisTER, J. AND BRAsH, J. C., MEDIco-LEGAL
Asr'CTs oF THE RuXToN CAsE (1937).
2 WEBsTEaR, G., 28 PoracE J. 185 (1955).
3 BASAuRi, C. 204 INT. CrIM. POL. Ptv. 37 (1967).

In this technique there is often criticism that
there is nothing scientific in adjusting the size of
the negative image of the skull to fit in with the
image of the face. In fact, it is possible to fit a
skull with photographs of different persons. Also
the real size of the face has not been brought about
in the above technique. To be more scientific,
the two negatives should be enlarged to the life
size, independently, and they should then be
superimposed.
The revised technique as suggested by the author
in this paper adopts this principle eliminating the
aforesaid discrepancy and employs a more scientific
and convincing method. The revised technique
followed in the examination of two of the cases in
the Tamil Nadu Forensic Science Laboratory are
discussed in this paper.
In this technique the face of the individual in the
photograph has to be enlarged to life size. This is
possible if any of the articles such as the shirt,
spectacles, the chair, saree, etc., found in the
photograph can be obtained and brought to the
laboratory. If, for example, the shirt worn by the
individual is available, the distance between the
two button holes (that appear in the photograph)
can be measured and from this distance, the re-
quired magnification of the negative retake to
make a life size photo can be worked out. When
these distances are measured it is very essential to
select the distances that are involved in linear
magnification only. The shirt, the face of the
individual, etc., can be considered to be in the same
plane taking into account the distances involved
between the camera and the individual when the
original photograph was made. Thus a life size
face is reproduced in a diapositive film. Then the
skull is set in a universal skull rest, and its position
can be adjusted exactly in the same way the face
is seen in the photo, say, straight or oblique,
slightly oblique or raised or lowered turned to-

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