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Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2006. / Supervisor: Shelley R. Saunders. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 285-322).

Ancestry assessments in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology are best analyzed with population-specific methods. Through population-specific ancestry methods, the generalized Native American/Asian ancestry category can be better refined to reflect the diversity of Native American and Asiatic people. Individuals from modern (~1900 to present) Seminole Native American and Japanese populations, housed at The Ohio State University and Jikei University in Tokyo, respectively, reflect a relatively unbiased population sample, as demographics range from juveniles to adults, with both sexes being equally represented. This broad sampling of individuals from the Florida Seminole group and the greater Tokyo region enables researchers to explore the degree of variation between the Seminole and Japanese groups, as can be demonstrated osteologically. Dentitions are an ideal candidate to measure intra-population variability due to heritabilities of both their tooth size and dental morphological characteristics within populations. In an attempt to better understand the variation between Native American and Asian populations, observations of Seminole and Japanese-specific dental morphology and tooth dimensions were recorded from 281 individuals using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) and mesiodistal and buccolingual measurements, respectively. Significant differences, indicated by a p-value ≤ 0.05, were identified between the Seminole and Japanese groups in the analysis of morphological dental traits and odontometrics. Nineteen statistically significant morphological traits that differed in expression between the two sampled groups were identified, with eight traits being more present in the Seminole group than the Japanese group, whereas eleven traits being more present in the Japanese group than the Seminole group. Linear regression (LRA) and discriminant function analyses equations were developed from three sets of odontometric datasets; the raw, unaltered collected data, the general measurement mean dataset which supplements missing variables, and the ancestry-specific measurement mean data set which supplements missing variables. Both the linear regression and discriminant function models demonstrated success in classifying the Seminole and Japanese groups. The LRA equations presented classification rates higher than chance (81.5-90.4%). Twenty-three DFA equations were developed, ranging in successful classification rates of 61.5% to 100.0%. The ancestry-specific measurement mean dataset performed the best in both the LRA and DFA models. The results of this study indicate that morphological trait observations and odontometric analyses can be useful tools in the differentiation of Native American and Asian populations, as differences between subgroups of these populations (Seminole and Japanese) were identified. These differences are likely due to the homogeneous and insular composition of both sampled populations. Further analysis of the statistically significant morphological traits identified in the current study and continued testing of more subpopulations of Native American and Asian populations will not only aid in ancestry estimations in forensic and bioarchaeology research, but also in the cessation of grouping Native American and Asian individuals under one category.

Estudos arqueológicos realizados em sambaquis fluviais sugerem proximidade cultural entre estes e os sambaquis litorâneos. No entanto, existem poucos trabalhos que abordam as relações biológicas e os processos microevolutivos destes sambaquieiros, mesmo por que coleções osteológicas de sambaquieiros fluviais são conquistas recentes da arqueologia nacional. Visando lançar luz sobre este importante aspecto da antropologia biológica e da arqueologia brasileira, o presente trabalho tem como principal objetivo estimar a biodistância entre grupos de indivíduos que perfazem coleções osteológicas humanas provenientes de sambaquis fluviais e litorâneos através de 33 variáveis morfológicas não-métricas dentárias. Os caracteres dentários são de determinação genética, dificilmente alterados por fatores ambientais. Além disso, preservam-se bem no registro arqueológico, são de fácil análise, sendo importantes marcadores para estudos de biodistância. Para este estudo foram observadas variáveis dentárias de 1958 coroas e de 3260 raízes de dentes permanentes de um total de 239 indivíduos provenientes de quatro sítios fluviais do Vale do Ribeira (Capelinha, Estreito, Moraes, Pavão XVI) e sete sítios arqueológicos do Paraná e Santa Catarina (Enseada I, Guaraguaçu, Itaquara, Jabuticabeira II, Matinhos, Morro do Ouro e Rio Comprido). As análises foram realizadas de três formas diferentes: 1) Os sítios foram comparados um a um; 2) Os sítios foram agrupados em quatro regiões diferentes (São Paulo, Paraná, norte de Santa Catarina e sul de Santa Catarina) e estas regiões foram comparadas entre si; 3) Foi mantida a região de São Paulo, composta pelos sítios fluviais do Vale do Ribeira, e esta foi comparada com cada um dos outros sítios separadamente. Desta forma foi possível discutir as relações de distância biológica entre estes diferentes agrupamentos quanto a aspectos distintos. Várias maneiras diferentes de análise foram utilizadas para estimar a distância biológica: a Medida Média de Divergência (MMD) segundo duas fórmulas distintas, o teste de Sanghvi, o Escalonamento Multidimensional e a análise de Cluster. A maioria dos resultados dos diferentes testes quanto aos distintos agrupamentos indicam que os indivíduos do sambaqui fluvial Moraes encontram-se dentro da variabilidade biológica dos sambaquieiros litorâneos estudados, sendo que se assemelham biologicamente mais aos indivíduos provenientes dos sítios litorâneos do Paraná. Arqueologicamente estas regiões não se assemelham, o que exige a realização de outros trabalhos para que esta discrepância possa ser compreendida. Foram observadas diferenças biológicas significativas entre alguns grupos de sambaquieiros litorâneos. Estes resultados corroboram estudos anteriores tanto da arqueologia quanto da antropologia biológica, em que se observaram diferenças entre alguns sambaquis litorâneos. Os diferentes métodos estatísticos utilizados no presente estudo mostraram divergências em alguns casos, cujas implicações são discutidas. Para melhor compreender a relação dos sambaquieiros fluviais com outros grupos sambaquieiros e do interior do Brasil, são necessários novos trabalhos incluindo um maior número de indivíduos e outros sítios na amostra. Só assim poderá ser verificado se os grupos fluviais continuam fazendo parte da variação morfológica encontrada entre os grupos litorâneos ou não. / Archaeological studies of fluvial shellmounds have shown cultural similarities between them and their counterparts on the coast. However, there are only a few reports on the biological affinities and the microevolutionary processes regarding those shellmound dwellers, mainly because human remains regarding these fluvial sites are recent advents in Brazilian archaeology. In order to shed light on this important aspect of Brazilian biological anthropology, the aim of the present thesis is to estimate the biodistance between osteological collections originating from fluvial as well as coastal shellmounds using 33 non-metric dental traits. Dental non-metric traits are genetically determined and rarely are influenced by environmental factors. Furthermore, they preserve very well in the archaeological record and are easily evaluated. Thus, dental traits constitute valuable markers for biodistance studies. For the present work we observed dental traits in 1958 dental crowns and in 3260 dental roots from 239 individuals coming from four fluvial shellmounds from the Vale do Ribeira (Capelinha, Estreito, Moraes, Pavão XVI) e seven coastal sites from the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina (Enseada I, Guaraguaçu, Itaquara, Jabuticabeira II, Matinhos, Morro do Ouro e Rio Comprido). The analyses were carried out according to three different groupings: 1) each site was compared to all others separately 2) the sites were classified into four different regions (São Paulo, Paraná, Northern Santa Catarina and Southern Santa Catarina) and then compared; 3) The region São Paulo, containing the fluvial sites of the Vale do Ribeira was maintained, and this region was compared to each of the remaining sites separately. This approach allowed discussing the biodistance between the groups with more detail and control. Different tests of estimating biodistance were used: the Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) according to two distinct formulae, the Sanghvi test, the Multidimensional Scaling and, finally, the cluster analysis. Most of the results indicate that the individuals from the fluvial shellmound Moraes lie in the range of variability observed for the coastal sites studied here, however, they are biological more similar in respect to the individuals from the sites of the region Paraná. Archaeologically these two regions are quite different. This calls for further studies. On the other hand, there are some significant morphological differences between the coastal sites, corroborating former results of archaeological as well as bioanthropological reports. The different methods used in the present study show some divergent results. Their implications are discussed. To better comprehend the biological relation between fluvial shellmound dwellers and groups from coastal as well as interior sites, further work is necessary, especially including a greater number of individuals as well as sites. Only then it is possible to know if the fluvial shellmounds maintain their position in the range of variability encountered for the coastal sites or not.

This research examines the relationship of two archeological populations in Southeastern Florida from the Middle Woodland Period. The two sites chosen include the Belle Glade site in the Belle Glade Cultural Area and the Highland Beach Mound site in the East Okeechobee Cultural Area. The determination of relationships was done through an analysis of nonmetric dental traits. A series of traits were recorded in an ordinal scale and later dichotomized into present or absent, in order to conduct a biological distance analysis. The statistical method chosen for this analysis was the Smith’s Mean Measure of Divergence. Results indicate that both populations have a minimal degree of divergence. These results corroborate the evidence gathered from past archeological investigations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Today’s highly endangered orangutan populations of Sumatra and Borneo offer but a glimpse into the taxonomic diversity and vast regional distribution enjoyed by orangutans and their great ape relatives in East Asia over the past 2.5 million years—a time when tropical forest pongine habitats stretched from Java to southern China. In addition to the giant terrestrial ape Gigantopithecus, other great ape genera have been proposed to have existed within this hominid community. The taxonomic diversity of this great ape faunal array is even further complicated when the purported presence of hominins at Early Pleistocene sites older than 1.85 Ma is considered. Highly acidic, the jungle floors of East Asia are notoriously bad at fossil preservation decomposing skeletal and dental evidence quickly. Fortunately, ph-neutral limestone caves have acted to offset these forces. The outcome of this peculiar taphonomy has left us with many teeth, but very little bone. With only unassociated fossil dentition to work with, modern geometric morphometrics offers scientists one of the few cutting-edge tools capable of systematically assessing this material reliably. This dissertation applies modern geometric morphometric statistical analysis to over two thousand fossil hominid teeth (Appendix A) from the Quaternary of southern China and Southeast Asia, which offers unique insight into the taxonomic diversity present in this sole Pleistocene great ape community. This study provides a much clearer understanding of the composition, paleoecology, and regional distribution of Pleistocene great ape communities of East Asia. Concordant with previous research, the main study and pilot study conducted in this dissertation showed Homo sapiens to always be morphologically and statistically distinct from extant and fossil orangutans. In turn, Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii were continuously shown to be distinct from each other as well as from fossil Pongo groups. This investigation refutes hominin assignments for several teeth previously placed within early East Asian hominins (showing them to be orangutans instead) but supports the hominin status of the Jianshi upper third premolar. In combination with a published age of 1.95–2.15 million years (Ma), the hominin assignment reaffirmed here for the Jianshi dentition originally classified as human by Liu, Clarke, & Xing (2010) may offer a challenge to evolutionary models that recognize the 1.85 Ma Dmanisi hominins as the earliest hominins outside of Africa. This fact is often lost on most contemporary scientists due to their preoccupation with the 2.5 Ma Longgupo mandibular fragment, once thought to be a hominin but now assignable to an ape. Like the Jianshi upper third premolar, it is also based on a single specimen (in this case, a mandibular fragment). This dissertation supports the existence of Ciochon’s (2009) “mystery ape”. It refutes Schwartz et al., (1995) multiple Vietnamese Pongo taxa, including the proposed genus “Langsonia,” which is reassigned here to Pongo or the “mystery ape,” while placing Vietnamese fossil orangutans into either Pongo weidenreichi or Pongo devosi. Teeth from the Ralph von Koenigswald collection originally assigned to “Hemanthropus” were also determined to be representative of either the “mystery ape” or Pongo. Indeterminate “hominin” teeth were assignable to either Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, or Pongo only; no evidence was found for any other types of hominin species present in the collections examined for this study.

The study involved the investigation of ancient dental enamel derived from former inhabitants of Pacific Islands: a population whose movements were necessarily more restricted than their mainland counterparts. Lead and strontium isotope analysis of human teeth were undertaken using TIMS and MC-LAM-ICPMS. Exposure information was obtained from elemental concentrations of lead and strontium using LAM-ICPMS, GFAAS and ASV. Isotopic measurements of lead within the dental enamel of these individuals suggest that the dominant source of biogenic lead exposure in these and other pre-metallurgical societies derived from the local water supply. Data from these ancient populations are compared with measurements made on ‘moderns’ based at Broken Hill, NSW, as well as from other UK-based post Iron Age populations. Results of this study indicate that the concentration of ancient lead within crystalline dental enamel in both ancient and modern populations can in certain circumstances be approximately the same, even when the degree of lead exposure is very high. The study proposes reasons for the discrepancies between these results and those obtained in previous studies, as well as discusses the implications of these analytical results for future studies in lead exposure in human populations. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Includes bibliogrgraphical references. / 1 v. (various pagings) : / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thirty six journal articles and book chapters aimed at clarifying the roles of genetic and environmental influences on morphological variability within the human dentition. The research falls into three broad categories: Studies of the dentitions of a group of Australian aborigines; Studies of the dentitions of individuals with chromosomal abnormalities; Studies of the dentitions of twins. The results of research carried out over approximately a ten year period. / Thesis (D.D.Sc)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Dentistry, 1995?

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2003. / Title from title page screen (viewed Sept. 22, 2003). Thesis advisor: Dr. Richard Jantz. Document formatted into pages (vii, 56 p. : ill.). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-55).