Jennifer F. Byrnes

Forensic anthropologists have a responsibility to appropriately relay information about a decedent in medicolegal reports and when communicating with the public. The terms ‘sex’ and ‘sex estimation’ have been applied with numerous, inconsistent definitions under the guise that sex—a broad, complex concept—can be reduced to a female/male binary. This binary does not reflect biocultural realities and harms those whose bodies do not meet social expectations of maleness or femaleness. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Laboratory (UNLV FAB Lab) advocates for the use of the term ‘assigned sex at birth’ (ASAB) to highlight that binary sex is not biologically inherent to the body, but rather, assigned by society. Additionally, we call for the use of disclaimers in case reports to denote the limitations of ASAB estimation methods, the differentiation between those with mixed trait expression (i.e., indeterminate) and those on whom an ASAB analysis cannot be performed (i.e., unknown), and the included consideration of gender in forensic anthropology research and case reports. Such applications challenge biological normalcy, allowing forensic anthropologists to actively advocate for those whose bodies do not meet biocultural expectations.

This osteobiography describes a probable disease co‐occurrence in a juvenile interred in the Erie County Poorhouse (ECPH) cemetery, Buffalo, New York. The remains were associated with a salvage excavation project at the University at Buffalo. The osteobiography details the palaeopathology of the skeletal remains of an 11‐ to 12‐year‐old child who died between 1851 and 1913 at the ECPH. The skeleton displayed lesion patterning consistent with co‐occurrence of healing scurvy, probable tuberculosis or another type of chronic bacterial infection, and possibly other metabolic disorders via co‐morbidity or co‐occurrence. In 19th‐century Buffalo, New York, a child with these pathologies, and their associated functional limitations, was likely disabled by society. This may have contributed to the child's stay in the ECPH and ultimate interment in its associated cemetery. The palaeopathology community will find the lesion manifestations insightful when attempting to diagnose co‐occurrence via skeletal remains in children. We were limited in the certainty of our diagnoses due to the pathological skeletal manifestations and preservation of the vertebral column, inability to conduct histological analyses, reburial of material in 2017, and thus no photos/radiographs of certain diagnostic items. Considerations about how age intersects with pathology can lead to insightful investigations of disability and impairment in the past.