Medicolegal anthropology in France

Medicolegal anthropology has a very long history in France. Basic studies o n human skeletal remains started as early as the 18th century. The 19th cen tury produced many medical theses and research papers on age, sex, as well as stature estimation. The research proliferated in the first 60 years of t he 20th century, much of which is still in use in France and abroad. The la ter half of the 20th century, however, was dormant in research on human ske letal biology at a time when forensic anthropology was becoming an active f ield worldwide. In the last decade, medicolegal anthropology took a differe nt perspective:, independent of its traditional roots. Research and practic e have both been in the professional domain of forensic physicians unlike t he situation in many other countries. Population based studies requiring la rge databases or skeletal collections have diminished considerably. Thus, m ost research has been on factors of individualization such as trauma, time since death, crime scene investigation, and facial reconstruction. It is su ggested that there is a need for cooperation between the forensic physician and anthropologist to further research. This also encourages anthropologis ts to carry out research and practice that can fulfill the needs of the med icolegal system of the country. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.