Editing Forensic science (section)

===Origins of forensic science and early methods===
{{main|Forensics in antiquity}}
The [[Ancient history|ancient world]] lacked standardized forensic practices, which enabled criminals to escape punishment. Criminal investigations and trials relied heavily on forced [[Confession (law)|confessions]] and witness [[testimony]]. However, ancient sources do contain several accounts of techniques that foreshadow concepts in forensic science developed centuries later.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schafer|first=Elizabeth D.|title=Forensic Science|url=https://archive.org/details/forensicscience00emba|url-access=limited|chapter=Ancient science and forensics |editor=Ayn Embar-seddon |editor2=Allan D. Pass|publisher=Salem Press|year=2008|page=[https://archive.org/details/forensicscience00emba/page/n59 40]|isbn=978-1587654237}}</ref>

The first written account of using [[medicine]] and [[entomology]] to solve criminal cases is attributed to the book of [[Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified|''Xi Yuan Lu'']] (translated as ''Washing Away of Wrongs''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/forensics/timeline.html |title=Forensics Timeline |publisher=Cbsnews.com |access-date=2011-12-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629040006/http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/forensics/timeline.html |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>[http://vizproto.prism.asu.edu/classes/sp05/todd_c/forensic_site/intro.html A Brief Background of Forensic Science] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216092646/http://vizproto.prism.asu.edu/classes/sp05/todd_c/forensic_site/intro.html |date=16 December 2009 }}</ref>), written in China in 1248 by [[Song Ci]] ({{lang|zh|宋慈}}, 1186–1249), a director of justice, jail and supervision,{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|p=3}} during the [[Song dynasty]].

Song Ci introduced regulations concerning autopsy reports to court,{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|p=161}} how to protect the evidence in the examining process, and explained why forensic workers must demonstrate impartiality to the public.{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|pp=76–82}} He devised methods for making antiseptic and for promoting the reappearance of hidden injuries to dead bodies and bones (using sunlight and vinegar under a red-oil umbrella);{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|p=95}} for calculating the time of death (allowing for weather and insect activity);{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|p=86}} described how to wash and examine the dead body to ascertain the reason for death.{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|p=87}} At that time the book had described methods for distinguishing between suicide and faked suicide.{{sfnp|Song|McKnight|p=79–85}} He wrote the book on forensics stating that all wounds or dead bodies should be examined, not avoided. The book became the first form of literature to help determine the cause of death.<ref>{{Cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-94499-9_2 |chapter=History of Forensic Science |series=SpringerBriefs in Computer Science |date=2018 |last1=Iorliam |first1=Aamo |title=Fundamental Computing Forensics for Africa |pages=3–16 |isbn=978-3-319-94498-2 }}</ref>

In one of Song Ci's accounts (''Washing Away of Wrongs''), the case of a person murdered with a sickle was solved by an investigator who instructed each suspect to bring his sickle to one location. (He realized it was a sickle by testing various blades on an animal carcass and comparing the wounds.) Flies, attracted by the smell of blood, eventually gathered on a single sickle. In light of this, the owner of that sickle confessed to the murder. The book also described how to distinguish between a [[drowning]] (water in the [[lungs]]) and [[strangulation]] (broken neck [[cartilage]]), and described evidence from examining corpses to determine if a death was caused by murder, suicide or accident.{{sfnp|Song|McKnight}}

Methods from around the world involved saliva and examination of the mouth and tongue to determine innocence or guilt, as a precursor to the [[Polygraph test]]. In ancient India,<ref name=EDodD>{{cite book|last=Parmeshwaranand|first=Swami|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the Dharmaśāstra, Volume 1|publisher=Sarup & Sons|location=New Delhi|isbn=8176253650|page=499|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDQVereyvj4C&pg=PA499 |year=2003}}</ref> some suspects were made to fill their mouths with dried rice and spit it back out. Similarly, in ancient [[China]], those accused of a crime would have rice powder placed in their mouths.<ref>McCrie, Robert D. "General Managerial Fundamentals and Competencies". ''Security Operations Management''. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier, 2007. 93. Print.</ref> In ancient [[Middle-East|middle-eastern]] cultures, the accused were made to lick hot metal rods briefly. It is thought that these tests had some validity<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of Forensic Science and it's evolution |url=https://ifflab.org/history-of-forensic-science/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504221659/https://ifflab.org/history-of-forensic-science/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 May 2020 |website=IFF Lab |date=29 December 2017 }}</ref> since a guilty person would produce less saliva and thus have a drier mouth;<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-24|title=Licking hot metal spoons to expose lies: Egypt's oldest tribal judicial system|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2018/09/24/Licking-hot-metal-spoons-to-expose-lies-revealing-Egypt-s-oldest-tribal-judicial-system-|access-date=2021-05-06|website=Al Arabiya English|language=en}}</ref> the accused would be considered guilty if rice was sticking to their mouths in abundance or if their tongues were severely burned due to lack of shielding from saliva.<ref>{{cite web |title=ANCIENT JUDICIAL METHODS FOR THE DETECTION OF DECEPTION |url=https://polygraph.org.uk/history-of-the-polygraph/ |website=The British Polygraph Society |access-date=31 March 2024 |quote=ORDEAL OF RICE CHEWING — ANCIENT CHINA — CIRCA 500 BC}}</ref>