Stature estimation equations for modern American Indians in the American Southwest.

Stature estimation is a core component to the biological profile in forensic anthropology casework. Here we provide mathematical equations for estimating stature for contemporary American Indians (AI), which currently are lacking in forensic anthropology. Drawing on postmortem computed tomography data from the New Mexico Decedent Image Database we regressed cadaveric length on four long bone length measures of the tibia, femur, and humerus to produce 11 combinations of models.

Paleodemography: From archaeology and skeletal age estimation to life in the past.

Much of paleodemography, an interdisciplinary field with strong ties to archaeology, among other disciplines, is oriented toward clarifying the life experiences of past people and why they changed over time. We focus on how human skeletons contribute to our understanding of preindustrial demographic regimes, including when changes took place that led to the world as we know it today. Problems with existing paleodemographic practices are highlighted, as are promising directions for future work.

Measuring the Tibia: Trotter's Error Revisited.

In Trotter and Gleser's (Am J Phys Anthropol 1952;10:463) classic study of stature estimation, a definition of the tibia length measurement is given that agrees with the standard condylar-malleolar length. That Trotter did not in fact measure according to her definition, but rather omitted the malleolus, has been well documented by Jantz et al. (J Forensic Sci 1995;40:758).

Selective mortality in middle-aged American women with Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH).

Objective: A mortality sample of white American male and female skeletons was examined to illustrate a simple means of identifying skeletal conditions associated with an increased risk of dying relatively early in adulthood and to determine if males and females with Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) displayed the same general age-specific pattern of mortality.

Methods: Age-specific probability distributions for DISH were generated from 416 white Americans who died from the 1980s to the present, and whose remains were donated to the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center. The age-specific frequency of DISH is analyzed using an empirical smoothing algorithm.

Data for validation of osteometric methods in forensic anthropology.

Many techniques in forensic anthropology employ osteometric data, although little work has been done to investigate the intrinsic error in these measurements. These data were collected to quantify the reliability of osteometric data used in forensic anthropology research and case analyses. Osteometric data (n = 99 measurements) were collected on a random sample of William M.

Error quantification of osteometric data in forensic anthropology.

This study evaluates the reliability of osteometric data commonly used in forensic case analyses, with specific reference to the measurements in Data Collection Procedures 2.0 (DCP 2.0).

Subadult sex estimation from diaphyseal dimensions.

Objectives: Many studies on subadult sex estimation focus on elements that express sexually dimorphic features in adults. In contrast, diaphyseal dimensions have been shown to display sex-specific differences prior to adolescence. The current study evaluates the use of diaphyseal dimensions in subadult sex estimation.

An evaluation of sex- and ancestry-specific variation in sacral size and shape using geometric morphometrics.

Objectives: Sex estimation using the human sacrum has primarily been limited to the use of non-statistical, visual observations of sacral size and shape with no quantifiable measure of certainty. Qualitative sex estimates rely primarily on generalizations of two aspects of sacral morphology: dorso-ventral curvature and the S1/alae breadth ratio. Additionally, the use of sacral morphology for ancestry estimation has largely been ignored.

Using multivariate adaptive regression splines to estimate subadult age from diaphyseal dimensions.

Subadult age estimation is considered the most accurate parameter estimated in a subadult biological profile, even though the methods are deficient and the samples from which they are based are inappropriate. The current study addresses the problems that plague subadult age estimation and creates age estimation models from diaphyseal dimensions of modern children. The sample included 1,310 males and females between the ages of birth and 12 years.

Statistical classification methods for estimating ancestry using morphoscopic traits.

Ancestry assessments using cranial morphoscopic traits currently rely on subjective trait lists and observer experience rather than empirical support. The trait list approach, which is untested, unverified, and in many respects unrefined, is relied upon because of tradition and subjective experience. Our objective was to examine the utility of frequently cited morphoscopic traits and to explore eleven appropriate and novel methods for classifying an unknown cranium into one of several reference groups.

Error and its meaning in forensic science.

The discussion of "error" has gained momentum in forensic science in the wake of the Daubert guidelines and has intensified with the National Academy of Sciences' Report. Error has many different meanings, and too often, forensic practitioners themselves as well as the courts misunderstand scientific error and statistical error rates, often confusing them with practitioner error (or mistakes). Here, we present an overview of these concepts as they pertain to forensic science applications, discussing the difference between practitioner error (including mistakes), instrument error, statistical error, and method error.

A revised method of sexing the human innominate using Phenice's nonmetric traits and statistical methods.

The traits of the pubis described by Phenice (Am J Phys Anthropol 30 (1969) 297-302) have been used extensively by physical anthropologist for sex estimation. This study investigates all three of Phenice's characteristics in an approach similar to Walker's (Am J Phys Anthropol 136 (2008) 39-50) study using observations from the cranium and mandible. The ventral arc, the subpubic contour, and the medial aspect of the ischio-pubic ramus were scored on a five-point ordinal scale from a sample of 310 adult, left innominates of known ancestry and sex from the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection and the W.

Brief communication: correcting overestimation when determining two-dimensional occlusal area in human molars.

The robustness index (RI) is determined by multiplying dental mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters, and is used to estimate occlusal area. However, because teeth are not rectangular its calculation consistently causes overestimations. Moreover, teeth, in particular molars, are not identically shaped so overestimations vary.

Craniometric variation in the Aleutians: integrating morphological, molecular, spatial, and temporal data.

Several hypotheses have been put forward about the origins and evolution of the inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands. Both Hrdlička [The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants (Philadelphia: Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945)] and Laughlin ["The Alaska gateway viewed from the Aleutian Islands," in Papers on the Physical Anthropology of the American Indian, W. S.

Test of the relationship between sutural ossicles and cultural cranial deformation: results from Hawikuh, New Mexico.

A number of researchers have hypothesized that the biomechanical forces associated with cultural cranial deformation can influence the formation of sutural ossicles. However, it is still difficult to make definitive conclusions about this relationship because the effects appear to be quite weak, and contradictory results have been obtained when specific sutures and deformation types are compared across studies. This research retests the hypothesis using a single archeological sample of lamdoidally deformed, occipitally deformed, and undeformed crania from Hawikuh, New Mexico (AD 1300-1680).

Understanding race and human variation: why forensic anthropologists are good at identifying race.

American forensicanthropologists uncritically accepted the biological race concept from classic physical anthropology and applied it to methods of human identification. Why and how the biological race concept might work in forensic anthropology was contemplated by Sauer (Soc Sci Med 34 1992 107-111), who hypothesized that American forensic anthropologists are good at what they do because of a concordance between social race and skeletal morphology in American whites and blacks. However, Sauer also stressed that this concordance did not validate the classic biological race concept of physical anthropology that there are a relatively small number of discrete types of human beings.

New perspectives in forensic anthropology.

A critical review of the conceptual and practical evolution of forensic anthropology during the last two decades serves to identify two key external factors and four tightly inter-related internal methodological advances that have significantly affected the discipline. These key developments have not only altered the current practice of forensic anthropology, but also its goals, objectives, scope, and definition. The development of DNA analysis techniques served to undermine the classic role of forensic anthropology as a field almost exclusively focused on victim identification.

Federal repatriation legislation and the role of physical anthropology in repatriation.

Two laws governing the disposition of Native American human remains in museums and institutions have had a profound impact on anthropology, and especially physical anthropology. In contrast to the perception of constant conflict between Native Americans and physical anthropologists, the repatriation process based on these laws has been in large part harmonious between institutions and Native peoples in the US. Despite misconceptions, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAPGRA; 25 United States Code (U.