Cranid

CranID was created in 1992 by anthropologist Richard Wright of the University of Sydney to infer the probable geographic origin of unknown crania that are found in archaeological, forensic and repatriation cases.

This was the first standardized program to evaluate the similarity and dissimilarity of cranial morphological characteristics of an unknown cranium and the database.

Robert Krusynski of London’s Natural History Museum provided measurements from Poundbury (a Romano-British 4th century AD site), from the Iron Age in Palestine, from post-Medieval Italy, and from the Indian subcontinent.

Forensic anthropologists use this software to determine the ancestry of unknown skeletal remains, in medico-legal contexts.

The use of this program is designed to aid forensic anthropologists in the determination of the biological profile, which includes factors such as age, sex, stature and race.

This biological profile is used to determine personal identification of skeletal remains from crime scenes, car and plane accidents, and mass disasters.

According to Fenja Theden-Ringl and colleagues, the use of CranID and another forensic anthropology software program, FORDISC, were unable to place skeletal remains from two site found in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia.