Due to disproportionate violence impacting the trans community, forensic anthropologists may increasingly encounter the remains of trans and non-binary individuals; however, it is presently unknown how often trans remains are represented in casework and if practitioners have sufficient knowledge about trans personhoods. After contextualizing forensically relevant demographics for the trans community, this study uses anonymous survey data of forensic anthropologists to explore the collective knowledge of and experience working with trans remains; practitioners’ perceptions of sex and gender; and potential opportunities for trans-oriented research in forensic anthropology. The results indicate that 28.9% of respondents have worked with trans remains in casework, but 75.0% of forensic anthropologists were unfamiliar with trans-related surgical procedures. Additionally, the survey indicates that forensic anthropologists struggle with the binary nature of forensic sex estimation, with 42.4% agreeing that sex is binary and 56.2% disagreeing. Similar opposition was found with reporting gender: 39.5% indicated that gender should be reported in casework and 31.0% disagreed. Moreover, current sex estimation methods and reporting are: rigidly binary; not reflective of human biological variation; and inadequate for trans and non-binary individuals. In order to dismantle rigidly binary sex categorization, we propose the adoption of a biocultural and queer theoretical approach to forensic sex estimation and in sexual dimorphism research that challenges heteronormative assumptions, questions typological two-sex categorization, and combats the presumptions that gender and sex are stable, independent entities that convey universal meaning. Relatedly, trans-oriented research, which is supported by 95.8% of respondents, will further improve methodological accuracies. / 2022-02-23T00:00:00Z

Understanding the natural processes that have taphonomic effects on bone is an important part of accurately determining the postmortem interval (PMI). Ultraviolet radiation is one of these various natural processes that weather bone. The present study quantifies the degree to which differential exposure to sunlight affects bone bleaching and weathering. In this study, 140 Sus scrofa long bones were placed in two different microenvironments (grassland and woodland) within a New England setting. Upon the completion of a one-year observation period, 100% of the bones had reached bleaching level 4, and 9.85% (n = 13) of the bones had reached weathering stage 1, with the majority (n = 11) being from the woodland sample. The results indicated that the microhabitat that each sub-sample was deposited within played a statistically significant role in the degree and rate of bleaching and weathering on the bone, with chi-square tests all indicating a p value of < 0.001. In addition, results indicated that environmental variables that led to the more rapid decomposition of soft tissue, such as temperature, humidity, and the type of plant coverage, may play a greater role in the level of bleaching and weathering achieved by the bones, rather than simply the degree of exposure to UV radiation and light intensity.

The following research examined the overall biological profile of an anatomized human skeletal assemblage discovered in Winchester, Massachusetts (Middlesex County) in 2020. This assemblage was discovered during construction of a private house in a suburban neighborhood. In addition, this project examined the history of medical teaching specimens and how this new collection connected to the anthropological understanding of this history. For centuries, marginalized individuals, including Black people, poor people, and criminals, were utilized as the cadaver supply for medical schools. The author examined the general biological profile, including sex, age, population affinity, and stature, of the Winchester assemblage. Since none of the fragmented postcranial bones were able to be matched to particular individuals, these estimations served as a profile for the general population of the Winchester assemblage. The skulls were the only parts of the sample that could be treated as specific individuals. Craniofacial nonmetric traits were observed as well as postcranial aspects of the skeleton. The total number (NISP) of adult remains was 14,469. The MNI of the adult remains was 35 based on the left femora. The author hypothesized that the majority of the remains would consist of male individuals, and the age profile would reflect the average age at death during the mid-1800s, which was about 20-40 years old. In addition, it was hypothesized that the majority of individuals would be of Black population affinity, which might indicate that the remains were robbed from Black cemeteries. The majority of the assemblage was indeed comprised of males. Specifically, 60.5% of the pubic symphyses and 58.8% of the greater sciatic notches analyzed were determined to be male. The general average age at death of the sample was 23 to 45 years old. Estimation of population affinity of the sample was attempted; however, the results were not compelling due to the fragmentation of the remains and limited ability to reconstruct crania. The stature of the remains was estimated to range from 58.1 to 69.9 inches or 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. This biological profile was compared to the demographics of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and the United States presented by the 1850 U.S. Census and data from the military during that time. The Winchester adult remains had more males than females, similar to the sex representation in Massachusetts’ poorhouses, penitentiaries, jails, and houses of correction during 1850. Unlike these institutions, the general population of Middlesex County had more females than males. The 1850 Census indicates that the majority of individuals in Massachusetts’ poorhouses, penitentiaries, jails, and houses of correction were 24 years and older, which aligns with the estimated aged range for the Winchester adult remains. White and Black individuals were the only population affinities compared in the 1850 Census, and there were significantly more White individuals. The average height of a White male in the US military was 63.7 inches, which aligned with the general stature interval of 58.1 to 69.9 inches for the adult Winchester remains. Future research, including DNA and isotope analyses, could provide further insights into the origins of these individuals discovered at this site.

The identification of metabolic diseases is a crucial aspect of osteoarchaeological analysis and of paleopathological studies. This study is specifically concerned with the study of scurvy and its bony manifestation. This investigation considers the recognition of the bony lesions of scurvy in adult skeletons that originate from English archaeological contexts dating to the Post Medieval period. In order to identify scorbutic bony lesions, assemblages were analysed that derived from the Georgian period Navy that were known to suffer from endemic scurvy, namely Haslar hospital near Portsmouth and Stonehouse hospital in Plymouth. These assemblages were complemented by two Non-Naval skeletal collections of a broadly contemporaneous time period, one of which was a prison assemblage from Oxford Castle in Oxford and the other was from Darwen, Lancashire and consisted of a Primitive Methodist cemetery. For the purpose of this study, an extensive literature review was carried out and a specially modified scurvy recording form was created. In total three hundred and fifty-eight skeletons were analysed using the scurvy recording form on which a total of twenty-one potential scorbutic indicators were scored. The data was then subject to statistical analysis and a set of primary and secondary scorbutic indicators was established. The primary scorbutic lesions were femur, sphenoid, posterior maxilla, scapula, endocranial and mandible. Nine secondary lesions were also established and these were lesions of the foot, humerus, ulna, radius, hand, clavicle, innominate, fibula and the ectocranial surface of the skull. In total, 66.7% of the Haslar assemblage was found to have suffered from scurvy, followed by Plymouth with 20.6%, Darwen with 16.4% and Oxford Castle with 7.9%. It was found that scurvy could be identified in adult skeletal material through the recognition of a number of lesions that could not be attributed to any other disease process. The results indicated that scurvy was present in all of the skeletal collections studied but was more common in the Naval assemblages. This is an important development in the detection of scurvy in the archaeological record and is crucial in the reconstruction of past diets and metabolic disease patterns.

This thesis explores the extent to which forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology are utilised within Great Britain and to what extent they aid, or do not aid, medico-legal investigation of death. Chapter One introduces the topic and considers the need for an exploration of these issues. In Chapter Two, the differences between the American and British situations are examined and an explanation for the differences proposed, based on the development of the academic ‘parent’ disciplines during the last century. Chapter Three explores issues around accreditation and registration in the UK. The role of the courts in maintaining standards of expert evidence is examined. National and European schemes are considered. After considering the practitioners in this way, Chapter Four looks at the methods, and how the practitioners’ experience informs their choice of method. One specific topic for each discipline is discussed in depth and the complexity of choice illustrated. The difficulty in assessing the full scope for use of forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology are detailed in Chapter Five, with the marked lack of available research data. The problems inherent in media-derived data are considered. The scope for use of the two disciplines is discussed and illustrated with examples from the Media Derived Case List In Chapter Six, a complex multiple-burial multiple-murder case is discussed; and interviews across one police force area are discussed. These illustrate the use and usefulness of forensic archaeology in practice. Conclusions are drawn in Chapter Seven, and radical recommendations are made.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the deaths of migrants have become a regular occurrence in southern Arizona where an average of 170 bodies are recovered from the desert each year. This dissertation examines the causes and effects of death and disappearance along the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking to address the contradiction present in the fact that thousands of people have died or disappeared in one of the world’s most heavily surveilled landscapes. It interrogates the ways in which the dead, the missing, and their families are simultaneously erased and exposed in a biopolitical process that has powerful implications beyond the space of the borderlands. The observations for this dissertation are drawn from nearly a decade of both ethnographic research and applied humanitarian assistance in the field of forensic human identification, primarily at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, in Tucson, Arizona. Although the majority of migrant fatalities have been determined by the medical examiner to be accidental, resulting from exposure to the elements or unknown causes, a historical analysis reveals the violent nature of these deaths and disappearances, which are a structured result of U.S. border and immigration policies. From their homes to their destinations, migrants in the Americas face a particular kind of structural violence and social invisibility that is revealed when they disappear at the border. This disappearance is then made more thorough by the structured lack of access for families of the missing to services to assist them in their search. Practices of care, whether occurring within families of the missing and dead, during the desert crossing itself, or in the forensic work to identify the dead, powerfully contest the invisibility and erasure experienced by migrants in the Americas today.

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.

This study examines the possible correlations between vertebral osteoporosis, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, Schmorl’s nodes, vertebral osteoarthritis, osteophytosis, and laminal spurs. Further, this study examines the effects of sex, age, ancestry, and occupation on the vertebral pathologies. A total of 238 individuals (54 African Americans and 184 randomly selected European Americans) from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, were analyzed. Vertebral pathologies and anomalies were assessed using visual morphometric scoring methods outlined in previous research. It is hypothesized that positive correlations exist between osteoporosis and other vertebral pathologies and a positive correlation exists between vertebral pathologies and strenuous occupations. It is also hypothesized that there is a difference in the prevalence of vertebral pathologies between European American and African American ancestries due to African Americans generally showing higher bone mineral density than European Americans (Aloia 2008). The results of this research demonstrate numerous relationships: females are correlated with more severe osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and spondylolisthesis, while males correlate with Schmorl’s nodes; European Americans are correlated with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, osteophytosis, and Schmorl’s nodes, while African Americans are correlated with laminal spurs; individuals 40 years or older are correlated with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, Schmorl’s nodes, and laminal spurs; and lastly, labor intensive occupations (i.e., construction worker) are correlated with osteoarthritis, osteophytosis, and Schmorl’s nodes, all with p-values less than 0.05. The majority of the pathological conditions also correlate with each other, for example, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. This research demonstrates how pathological conditions correlate with sociodemographic risk factors and with other pathological conditions, which can help with the identification process of skeletal remains in archaeological and forensic contexts.

A Antropologia Forense desempenha um importante papel nas Ciências Forenses e, apesar de não consistir em um método primário de identificação humana, ou seja, só a sua execução não basta para conferir identidade a um indivíduo questionado, é um método auxiliar trivial para reduzir o universo de suspeitos a serem analisados na busca da identidade. O objetivo desse trabalho foi analisar a acurácia e aplicabilidade do software AncesTrees, desenvolvido por Navega et al. (2015), em um conjunto de medidas cranianas de uma amostra brasileira. Em uma amostra constituída por 114 crânios identificados, originários de duas coleções osteológicas localizadas no estado de São Paulo, predominantemente composta por indivíduos brancos (59), seguido por negros (35) e pardos (20), foram realizadas 25 diferentes medidas craniométricas que foram alocadas no AncesTrees em dois algoritmos diferentes, sendo que um deles foi utilizado em três configurações distintas, com diferentes grupos ancestrais integrando o modelo. O software teve desempenho superior na estimativa de indivíduos brancos, chegando a 73% de acurácia neste grupo e 66% no grupo de indivíduos negros. Indivíduos classificados como pardos apresentaram inconstância na classificação ancestral, sendo classificados majoritariamente como Europeus. No geral, a combinação mais precisa do AncesTrees foi no algoritmo ancestralForest com apenas os grupos Europeu e Africano integrando o algoritmo, chegando a 70% de acerto. Conclui-se que a aplicabilidade desse software no Brasil é frágil, devido à alta carga de miscigenação da população, sendo necessária a criação de uma base de dados antropométricos mais representativa do povo brasileiro / Forensic Anthropology develops an important role in Forensic Sciences. Although it is not a primary method of human identification, that is, its execution alone is not enough to establish an identity to a questioned individual, it is a trivial secondary method, to reduce the universe of suspects to be analyzed by the primary ones. The objective of this research was to analyze the accuracy and applicability of the software AncesTrees, developed by Navega et al. (2015), in a set of cranial measurements of a Brazilian sample. In a sample consisted of 114 identified skulls, coming from two osteological collections located in the São Paulo State, predominantly composed of white individuals (59), followed by blacks (35) and admixed (20), 25 different craniometric measurements were performed and allocated to AncesTrees in two different algorithms, one of which was used in three different configurations, with different ancestral groups integrating the model. The software had superior performance in the estimation of white individuals, reaching 73% accuracy in this group and 66% in the black individuals\' group. Individuals classified as admixed showed inconstancy in the ancestral classification, being classified mainly as European. Overall, the most accurate combination of AncesTrees was in the ancestralForest algorithm with only the European and African groups integrating the algorithm, reaching 70% accuracy. It is concluded that the applicability of this software in Brazil is fragile, due to the high admixing load of the population, and it is necessary to create a more representative anthropometric database of the Brazilian people

A Antropologia Forense desempenha um importante papel nas Ciências Forenses e, apesar de não consistir em um método primário de identificação humana, ou seja, só a sua execução não basta para conferir identidade a um indivíduo questionado, é um método auxiliar trivial para reduzir o universo de suspeitos a serem analisados na busca da identidade. O objetivo desse trabalho foi analisar a acurácia e aplicabilidade do software AncesTrees, desenvolvido por Navega et al. (2015), em um conjunto de medidas cranianas de uma amostra brasileira. Em uma amostra constituída por 114 crânios identificados, originários de duas coleções osteológicas localizadas no estado de São Paulo, predominantemente composta por indivíduos brancos (59), seguido por negros (35) e pardos (20), foram realizadas 25 diferentes medidas craniométricas que foram alocadas no AncesTrees em dois algoritmos diferentes, sendo que um deles foi utilizado em três configurações distintas, com diferentes grupos ancestrais integrando o modelo. O software teve desempenho superior na estimativa de indivíduos brancos, chegando a 73% de acurácia neste grupo e 66% no grupo de indivíduos negros. Indivíduos classificados como pardos apresentaram inconstância na classificação ancestral, sendo classificados majoritariamente como Europeus. No geral, a combinação mais precisa do AncesTrees foi no algoritmo ancestralForest com apenas os grupos Europeu e Africano integrando o algoritmo, chegando a 70% de acerto. Conclui-se que a aplicabilidade desse software no Brasil é frágil, devido à alta carga de miscigenação da população, sendo necessária a criação de uma base de dados antropométricos mais representativa do povo brasileiro / Forensic Anthropology develops an important role in Forensic Sciences. Although it is not a primary method of human identification, that is, its execution alone is not enough to establish an identity to a questioned individual, it is a trivial secondary method, to reduce the universe of suspects to be analyzed by the primary ones. The objective of this research was to analyze the accuracy and applicability of the software AncesTrees, developed by Navega et al. (2015), in a set of cranial measurements of a Brazilian sample. In a sample consisted of 114 identified skulls, coming from two osteological collections located in the São Paulo State, predominantly composed of white individuals (59), followed by blacks (35) and admixed (20), 25 different craniometric measurements were performed and allocated to AncesTrees in two different algorithms, one of which was used in three different configurations, with different ancestral groups integrating the model. The software had superior performance in the estimation of white individuals, reaching 73% accuracy in this group and 66% in the black individuals\' group. Individuals classified as admixed showed inconstancy in the ancestral classification, being classified mainly as European. Overall, the most accurate combination of AncesTrees was in the ancestralForest algorithm with only the European and African groups integrating the algorithm, reaching 70% accuracy. It is concluded that the applicability of this software in Brazil is fragile, due to the high admixing load of the population, and it is necessary to create a more representative anthropometric database of the Brazilian people