It fills a void in the resources available to researchers and practitioners in forensic hair examination by providing photographic archetypes for the microscopic characteristics of human hair and the variates of the characteristics seen in forensic examinations, including curl; color; pigment distribution and density; cortical fusi; and ovoid bodies. These illustrations provide a uniform basis for describing the characteristics and their variations for forensic professionals in differing geographical areas. The documentation of hair characteristics using the scoring system outlined in this atlas allows researchers to develop data regarding the frequency of characteristics within the hairs of one or more individuals and the assessment of whether certain hair characteristics are co-dependent.

It fills a void in the resources available to researchers and practitioners in forensic hair examination by providing photographic archetypes for the microscopic characteristics of human hair and the variates of the characteristics seen in forensic examinations, including curl; color; pigment distribution and density; cortical fusi; and ovoid bodies. These illustrations provide a uniform basis for describing the characteristics and their variations for forensic professionals in differing geographical areas. The documentation of hair characteristics using the scoring system outlined in this atlas allows researchers to develop data regarding the frequency of characteristics within the hairs of one or more individuals and the assessment of whether certain hair characteristics are co-dependent.