Lewis Forensic Document Examination

Fundamentals and Current Trends
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-0-12-410419-8
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 232 Seiten

Forensic Document Examination enlightens forensic document examiners, forensic investigators, attorneys and others using the services of forensic document examiners with the basic principles and current trends in the area. Standards and methodologies apply now, which were non-existent 20 years ago. Instrumentation has moved beyond the microscope and the magnifying glass to digital cameras, digital microscopes, video spectral comparators, electrostatic detection devices for the development of indented writing on paper, scanners, and software programs like Write-On 2.0 and Photoshop. - Covers basic principles and methodologies used in forensic document examination - Contains state-of-the-art techniques and new trends - Includes research over the last ten years and describes the future direction of forensic document examination

1985 was a good year. Jane Lewis finished an internship in the Questioned Document section of the Secret Service Lab in Washington, DC. She graduated with a Master of Forensic Sciences degree from George Washington University and got a job as a document analyst with the FBI in the Hoover Building in Washington DC. She soon moved up the mall to the Secret Service Lab. But the lure of beer and bratwurst was too strong and Jane found herself back home at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab in Milwaukee. Twenty-three years later Jane retired from the Milwaukee Lab and moved on to greener pastures working in private practice in Milwaukee.She is certified by the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners. Jane is a member of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners (ASQDE), Assistant Editor of the Journal of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, a Director representing the Questioned Document Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), a fellow in the Questioned Document Section of AAFS and a member of the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS).Jane has testified more than 50 times as a forensic document examiner. She has presented her research at the annual scientific sessions of AAFS, ASQDE and MAFS. Her research has been published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and the Journal of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners. Jane along with three colleagues wrote a chapter on Forensic document examination in the book Forensic Science Current Issues, Future Directions, edited by Douglas H. Ubelaker, published in 2013.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lewis, Jane

Leseproben

Chapter 1 A Brief History of Writing
This chapter shows images of ancient writings through modern day business writings. In the beginning we communicated with pictures. Cave paintings from 20,000 to 35,000 BC initiated the path to modern handwriting. Sumerian cuneiform existed as the first written language. Ancient Egyptian writing and the Phoenician and Greek alphabets followed. The Roman alphabet, which grew from the Greek alphabet, established preeminence as the script of the Roman Empire (Gaur, Albertine, 1992, A History of Writing, Cross River Press, New York, London, Paris). The emperor Charlemagne (742–814 AD) unified Western Europe and promoted the Carolingian miniscule style of writing (ibid). Gothic style script advanced in the 12th and 13th centuries. Angular, heavy, and vertical writing represented this style. Calligraphy comes from the Greek word kalligraphia, which means beautiful writing, and preceded modern business writing. Austin Norman Palmer (1860–1927) became a fine penman. He is famous for developing the Palmer Method of handwriting. The Zaner–Bloser method also developed during this time. This chapter concludes with the modern pictograms seen in symbols like those for bars, restrooms, and airplanes. Keywords
Cave paintingsCuneiformGothicPalmer MethodZaner–Bloser The past is never dead. It’s not even past. (William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun, 1951) Chapter Outline Cave Paintings Cuneiform Writing Egyptian Writing Phoenician Writing Greek Alphabet Etruscan Alphabet Roman Alphabet Word Separation in Manuscripts Carolingian Minuscule Gothic Script Italic Script Copperplate Handwriting Calligraphy Modern Handwriting The Palmer Method Zaner–Bloser Modern Pictograms Cave Paintings
In the beginning we communicated with pictures. Cave paintings dated between 20,000 and 35,000 BC show prehistoric man’s early picture writing (Jackson, 1981). The walls of caves in Altamira, Spain and Lascaux, France bloom with painted images of bison, bulls, horses, and other animals (Fairbank, 1970). The intent of these early wall murals eludes scientists. But pictures on cave walls initiated the path to modern handwriting. Figure 1.1 shows an example of a horse painted on the wall of a Lascaux cave. Communication by pictures in ancient times grew into pictograms. Pictograms followed the bison and horses found on cave walls, but consisted of simpler designs (ibid.). Ideograms were word signs that represented ideas and actions as in road signs of today (ibid.). Eventually phonetic writing emerged. Each sign or phonogram represented language sounds, which ultimately lead to the alphabet (ibid.). Cuneiform Writing
Cuneus comprises the Latin root of cuneiform, which means wedge. A triangular reed or stylus was used to form cuneiform signs in wet clay. Clay tablets were then dried in the sun to permanently fix the writing (Fairbank, 1970). Sumerian cuneiform existed as the first written language. The earliest examples date back to 3100 BC (ibid.). Sumerian civilization lived in the Fertile Crescent from 3500 to 1720 BC (Jackson, 1981). Figure 1.2 depicts a cuneiform tablet. During this same time period Chinese writing developed (Gaur, 1992). FIGURE 1.1Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of an image of a horse from Lascaux Caves.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lascaux2.jpg (Accessed October 11, 2013), (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags#Various_free_licenses) Egyptian Writing
Ancient Egyptian writing consisted of three styles: hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic (Fairbank, 1970: 27). Figure 1.3 shows hieroglyphic picture-writing. Hieroglyphic writing appeared from 3100 BC to 400 AD. Hieratic and demotic evolved from the hieroglyphic script. Hieratic grew from the hieroglyphic writing, and was used from 3500 BC to 400 AD. The demotic, more cursive form of Egyptian writing was used from 600 BC to 500 AD (Gaur, 1992). FIGURE 1.2Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of an image of a Sumerian inscription on a creamy stone plaque showing cuneiform script.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Sumerian_26th_c_Adab.jpg (Accessed October 11, 2013), (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags#Various_free_licenses) FIGURE 1.3Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of an image of cursive hieroglyphs from the Papyrus of Ani, an example of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieroglyphic (Accessed October 11, 2013), (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags#Various_free_licenses) Phoenician Writing
Egyptian writing influenced the development of the Phoenician alphabet. Scientists speculate that the origin was in Greece, as early as 1000 BC (Fairbank, 1970). The coast of Syria provided a base for the Phoenicians. They survived as seafaring traders along the Mediterranean Sea (Jackson, 1981). Each symbol in the Phoenician alphabet represented one sound (ibid.). The Phoenician alphabet appears in Figure 1.4. Greek Alphabet
The Greek alphabet evolved from the Phoenician alphabet beginning after 900 BC (Jackson, 1981). The Greeks added vowels to the consonant-only Phoenician alphabet. The first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta, form the word alphabet (Fairbank, 1970). Figure 1.5 shows the Greek alphabet painted on a cup. Etruscan Alphabet
The Etruscans predated the Romans in Italy. An abecedarium was found in Marsiliana d’Alberg, Italy, in 700 BC (ibid.). The alphabet consisted of 26 letters. The arrangement on the page was laid down from right to left (ibid: 39). Figure 1.6 shows an inscription on a warrior head used as an Etruscan grave marker. FIGURE 1.4Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of an image of the Phoenician alphabet.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phoenician_Alphabet_ua.jpg (Accessed October 11, 2013), (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags#Various_free_licenses) Roman Alphabet
“Iacta alea est,” (Latin: “The die has been cast”) said Julius Caesar in 49 BC (Suetonius, 1913). He led his army across the Rubicon River in Northern Italy. The phrase means that something is inevitable or there is no turning back. During this time the Roman alphabet, which evolved from the Greek alphabet, established preeminence as the script of the Roman Empire (Gaur, 1992). This alphabet included 26 letters and still exists in many cultures today. Figure 1.7 depicts an image of Roman lettering carved in marble. FIGURE 1.5Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of an image of the early Greek alphabet painted on the body of an Attic black-figure cup at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NAMA_Alphabet_grec.jpg (Accessed October 11, 2013), (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en; http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags#Various_free_licenses) FIGURE 1.6Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of an image of an Etruscan cippus (grave marker) in the form of a warrior head, found in the necropolis Crocifisso del Tufo outside Orvieto, Italy. This is a side view showing the inscription in the Old Italic alphabet.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etruscan_cippus_warrior_head_side.jpg (Accessed October 11, 2013), (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags#Various_free_licenses) Word Separation in Manuscripts
Before the seventh century, Latin manuscripts contained connected words with no spaces, scriptura continua, rather than separated words. The development of silent reading led to the need for separation of words. The first Latin manuscript with separated words was the Irish Book of Mulling (before 692 AD) (Saenger, 1997). FIGURE 1.7Vector drawing by Anthony Chojnacki of a marble sign in Roman lettering in the Collegio degli Augustali in Herculaneum in Italy.http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Herculaneum_Collegio_degli_Augustali_Iscrizione.jpg (Accessed...