This book discusses new applications of technologies that have been or could be successfully employed to estimate the age of fingermarks. Determining the specific time a fingermark is deposited could become a powerful new development in forensic science and a useful application to law enforcement. This book aims to shed some light on this important and still controversial area of scientific research. 

The expert chapters review recent discoveries and current developments with a practical bent, focusing on prospective uses in real-world crime scenes. They take a multidisciplinary approach, featuring contributors with diverse specialties including Chemistry, Imaging Technologies, Forensic Science, Biology and Microbiology. The balanced presentation incorporates critiques on fingermark aging studies, explores the reliability of fingermarks as evidence, and discusses how the estimation of "age" can improve robustness of crime evidence. Each chapter describes a unique aspectof fingermark aging observed from a different analytical perspective: 2D imaging; 3D imaging; chemical analysis; chemical imaging; microbiome analysis; electrochemical analysis; and DNA analysis, as well as the role and application of statistics. Illustrations and graphs aid the reader in understanding the concepts being explained.   

Not just a compilation of techniques and methods, this book's emphasis on practical applications and its easy-to-read style will appeal to a broad audience of scientists and criminal justice professionals alike. It will be of great interest to law enforcement, academia, and the criminal justice community; including forensic scientists, investigators, lawyers, students, and researchers. It aims to help facilitate debates in the broader community about the feasibility, convenience, and relevance of estimating the age of evidence.

Preface: Innovations in Fingerprint Research

Chapter 1: Past, Present, And Future of the Forensic Use of Fingermarks
Chapter 2: Latent Fingermarks as Complex Physical, Chemical, and Biological Structures
Chapter 3: Estimating the Age of Fingermarks: Relevance, Potential Approaches and Perspectives
Chapter 4: Non-Contact Technologies and Digital Approaches to (Latent) Fingermark Aging Studies
Chapter 5: Latent Fingermark Aging in 2D: Qualitative and Quantitative Analytical Approaches
Chapter 6: Latent Fingermark Aging in 3D: Uncovering Hidden Degradation Patterns
Chapter 7: Latent Fingermark Aging: Chemical Degradation Over Time  Amanda
Chapter 8: New Chemical Imaging Approaches to Fingermark Dating by Mass Spectrometry
Chapter 9: Latent Fingermarks and Electrochemistry: Possibilities for Development and Aging Studies
Chapter 10: Latent Fingermarks and DNA Recovery
Chapter 11: Latent Fingermarks and Microbiome: Time and Community Succession
Chapter 12: Age Estimation of Bloodstained Fingermarks
Chapter 13: The Application of Statistics in Fingermark Aging Research.