Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Document Type

Article

Anticipated Volume

95

Anticipated Issue

2

Abstract

The objective of the present literature review is to examine how the humanitarian crisis of migrant death at the U.S.-Mexico border epitomizes the antemortem and postmortem dimensions of structural violence and the lasting effects it can have on the human body. After describing the ongoing migrant death crisis, we review embodiment constructs in biological anthropology pertaining to structural violence and marginalization across the life course. We then survey studies examining skeletal and dental biomarkers of structural violence as embodied in migrant populations, including oral pathology, dental modifications, porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, enamel hypoplasia, cranial fluctuating asymmetry, vertebral neural canal size, and stature. These studies, conducted in forensic institutions with data collected through casework, provide evidence of structural vulnerabilities faced by different migrant groups, but also suggest that the migrant lived experience is not uniform. After death, the bodies and material artifacts of those who perish while migrating further embody structural violence by reflecting the arduousness of the journey, undergoing taphonomic changes, and receiving treatment that often leads to further erasure. While many migrant decedents are disappeared in desert and ranchland environments, those who are found are often trapped in the medicolegal system, either undergoing further bodily destruction for the purpose of identification or being buried in unmarked graves without proper investigation. To exemplify the various postmortem trajectories of migrant individuals, we provide an account of the investigative experiences of Operation Identification (OpID), a humanitarian forensic initiative in Texas, highlighting the realities of how embodiment principles are incorporated into migrant death casework. Throughout forensic exhumations and the identification process, OpID regularly encounters the biological and circumstantial evidence of violence reviewed throughout the paper. We conclude by discussing future directions for integrating embodiment frameworks into death investigation around the country. The purpose of this review is to 1) expose biological scientists to applied embodiment research in the U.S.-Mexico border context and 2) to further dialogues on the the utility of embodiment in medicolegal spheres.

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