VI. Glossary VI. Glossary Abrasion Superficial injury involving the skin; often called a scratch, scrape or graze. Accountable Subject to a system that is designed to ensure the proper discharge of responsibility by a person or institution. Alveolar bone In relation to teeth, the sockets holding the teeth. Ancestry In relation to forensic anthropology, the biological heritage of the remains. Ante-mortem data Data about a named individual while alive that can be used to compare with post-mortem data collected from the body, usually for the purpose of identifying the body. Artefact Artificial product. In relation to a dead body, a change (for example resulting from resuscitation or post-mortem damage) imitating pathology, disease or injury occurring in life. Autopsy In this document, the examination of a dead body involving its external and internal examination and incorporating the results of special tests (including radiology). The internal examination involves, but is not limited to, examining the contents of the cranium, chest and abdomen. Further disSection may occur in particular circumstances. Biological profile A term used in forensic anthropology to refer to the evaluation of skeletonized human remains to make conclusions about the age, sex, ancestry and stature of those remains, to aid in their identification. Bruise An injury characterized by extravasation of blood into the surrounding tissues. Cause of death The underlying cause (the disease, condition or circumstance initiating the chain of events resulting in death), possibly proceeding through more immediate (or proximate) causes, concludes the logically linked statements that constitute the cause of death. In concluding the cause of death according to the WHO format, which is the conventional and internationally understood format, the most immediate cause is stated first, and the underlying cause(s) stated last. Thus, the cause of death of a young man who was shot in the chest resulting in massive haemorrhage as the bullet passed through the heart and the lungs should be recorded as: I(a) Haemorrhage (due to) I(b) Perforation of the heart and lungs (due to) I(c) Gunshot wound to the chest. Part II of the cause of death statement includes the disease(s), condition(s) or circumstance(s), if any, that contribute to the death, but NOT to the underlying cause listed in I. The cause of death is Parts I and II considered together. Note: the Cause of death is distinguished from the Manner of death (q.v.) and the Mode of death (q.v.). Chain of custody (of an exhibit) A process enabling the complete history of the custody of an exhibit to be tracked and recreated; that is, who has had care and control of the exhibit from the time it was first secured to the present. Commingled remains Usually in relation to skeletal remains, the mixing of the remains of two or more individuals, for example in a mass grave. 52 Contamination The location on a person or object of material, whether obvious or not, from another source. Such contamination can be useful in forensically linking a suspect to a crime scene; or it can be confusing and damaging to justice (e.g. DNA contamination). Continuity See Chain of custody (above). The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016)