Anthropology Research & IDentification (ARID) Laboratory

Contact Information

To contact us, please email or call Dr. Mari Isa at 806-834-3532.

About Us

The Anthropology Research & IDentification (ARID) Laboratory is housed within the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Texas Tech University. We conduct research, provide graduate academic training, and offer forensic anthropology and archaeology casework services to requesting law enforcement agencies and medicolegal professionals. Our work is supported by a broader team of anthropologists with specialized expertise in skeletal analysis and archaeological methods.

Forensic Casework Services

Medicolegal Significance: identifying suspected skeletal material as human or non-human and evaluating the relevance of human remains to the medicolegal death investigation system to determine if further analysis is warranted.

Biological Profile: estimating sex, population affinity, age-at-death, and stature of unidentified remains, as well as documenting other potentially individualizing information.

Trauma Analysis: documenting and evaluating skeletal trauma to provide information about the timing and mechanism of injury.

Search and Recovery: applying archaeological techniques to assist law enforcement in the systematic search for and recovery of human remains and associated evidence.

Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Mari Isa: Forensic anthropology, trauma analysis, identification

Dr. Brett A. Houk: Forensic archaeology, total data station mapping, photogrammetry

Dr. Arthur Durband: Osteological analysis

Dr. Anna Novotny: Excavation, osteological analysis, identification

Dr. Giacomo Fontana: Drone and pedestrian survey, GIS