Univerzita Karlova Přírodovědecká fakulta Antropologie a Genetika člověka Alizé Lacoste Jeanson, M.Sc. "NÁVRAT SVALŮ A TUKU ZPĚT NA KOSTI": 3D ANALÝZA VLIVU TĚLESNÉ KOMPOZICE A HMOTNOSTI NA KOSTNÍ ARCHITEKTURU "PUTTING FLESH AND FAT BACK ONTO THE BONES": A 3D ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF BODY COMPOSITION AND MASS ON BONE ARCHITECTURE Disertačnn prace Doctoral thesis Školitel Supervisor: Prof. RNDr. Jaroslav Brůžek, CSc, PhD, HDR Praha, 2018 Prague, 2018 Charles University Faculty of Science Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics Abstract The understanding of biomechanics is essential to various studies in bioanthropology. Bone is a living tissue that constantly remodels in order to functionally adapt to biomechanical constrains. Long bones diaphyses in particular have been subjected to various analyses notably because the application of beam engineering principles has rendered possible the evaluation of their resistance to various directional constrains based on their shape. Body mass estimation methods lie on this principle. Body mass is partially used since the nineties as a proxy to control the influence of body size on bone's architecture prior to interpreting variations between populations. More recently, they have been used to estimate physical status (i.e. emaciation, norm, obesity)....

In forensic anthropology, methods for estimating sex from the skeleton have historically been developed on skeletal collections comprised exclusively U.S. Black and white populations and thus inherently rely on ancestry estimation as a foundational component for the construction of the biological profile. However, these population-specific methods of sex estimation fundamentally limit the applicability, accuracy, and reliability of the method for use on remains of diverse population affiliations (ancestry). A reliable and population-inclusive method for estimating sex in the skeleton can serve as a useful tool for forensic investigators, especially in cases with unidentified remains where the population affiliation is indeterminate and in light of recent discourse involving the removal of ancestry estimation from the biological profile as a whole This study assessed the reliability of population-inclusive nonmetric and metric sex estimation from 3D-volume rendered computer tomography (CT) scans of the skull. The study sample was comprised of 431 individuals (242 males and 189 female) from the New Mexico Decedent Imaging Database (NMDID) and included a relatively equal distribution of African American, Asian American, European American, Latin American, and Native American population affinities. The images were obtained from the CT slices using 3D-reconstructions and volume rendering technique (VRT) in the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) viewer, exported to Meshmixer™ and then processed to isolate the skull from the postcranial skeleton and remove identifying objects. In Meshmixer™, nonmetric traits were scored following Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994) and Walker (2008) and included the supraorbital ridge/glabella, supraorbital margin, mastoid process, mental eminence and nuchal crest. The metric traits, following Spradley and Jantz (2011), included 18 points of measurement of the cranium and mandible. Binary logistic regression (BLR) and discriminant function analyses (DFA) were used to produce models and probabilities from the nonmetric a metric data respectively and an additional binary logistic regression was developed that combined both the nonmetric and metric data. Overall, the population-inclusive nonmetric and metric model produced classification accuracies that ranged from 81-87% and 86.7-87% respectively, and performed as well as population-specific models in estimating sex and were not significantly different from population-specific accuracies. When some of the population-specific models were applied across population, particularly the European American model, the classification accuracy was significantly reduced relative to the population-inclusive model. Intraobserver error was assessed for the nonmetric and metric data collection and confirmed that the nonmetric and metric methods of data collection for the volume-rendered images was consistent. The results of this study indicate that a population-inclusive nonmetric and metric models of sex estimation using the skull can be used in place of more traditional population-specific models in cases where ancestry is unknown, indeterminate, or in the event ancestry is removed from the biological profile.

This project histologically examined weathering on faunal bones. The sample consisted of a mixture of faunal remains, assessed and assigned to weathering stages (WS) 0-2 from Behrensmeyer’s (1978) scoring method. A total of 77 bones sections were observed for histological analysis. A portion were obtained, partially fleshed, commercially and were placed at the Outdoor Research Facility (ORF) in Holliston, MA. After deposition, bones were collected at specific time intervals allowing for 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 18-month exposure times. Bones were also collected from several outdoor locations in Ohio, having been exposed for an unknown period, and ranging from WS 0-2. Following histological preparation of the sample, the microstructure of each weathering stage was observed using the image analysis software Fiji from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data recorded included the number of cracks present per unit area and the depth of cracking. The number of cracks per unit area for each section of bone was calculated by dividing the number of cracks per section by the total section area resulting in number of cracks per mm2. Depth of cracking was analyzed through maximum crack length and average crack length. This data was compiled and one-way ANOVA tests were applied to determine where weathering stage and exposure time were statistically significant. This was followed by Bonferroni post-hoc analyses which were utilized to analyze the interactions within the WS and exposure time variables; to allow for analysis of statistical significance of WS to one another and exposure time intervals to one another. It was hypothesized that different weathering states would be statistically significant from one another, and microscopically identifiable through a histological examination, and that these would be able to be differentiated from other sources of microtaphonomic alteration including burial and thermal alteration. It was also hypothesized that exposure time would significantly impact the histological characteristics including the number of cracks per mm2 and the maximum and average crack depth. One-way ANOVA analysis indicated that WS has a significant impact on the number of cracks per mm2 and the maximum crack length. No significance was observed for analysis of WS and average crack length. Post-hoc analysis involving the number of cracks per mm2 revealed statistical significance between WS 0 and WS 1, WS 0 and WS 2. Analysis involving maximum crack length indicated significance only between WS 0 and WS 1. Post-hoc analysis involving average crack length did not indicate any statistically significant relationships between the WS. One-way ANOVA analysis of exposure time indicated that exposure time has a significant impact when on all three variables: number of cracks per mm2, average crack length, and maximum crack length. Post-hoc analysis involving the number of cracks per mm2 found that months 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 were all statistically significant from 18 months. Analysis of average crack length revealed that months 0 and 2 were both statistically from 8 months of exposure. Post-hoc analysis involving maximum crack length reveals statistical significance between months 0 and 8, 0 and 12, and 2 and 8. Histological characteristics of weathered bone were found to include delamination and cracking. Delamination was observed on several bones in WS 2 and one in WS 1, while cracking was observed in bones of all stages. Positive relationships were observed between WS and number of cracks per mm2, and between exposure time and cracks per mm2 indicating that as one increased so did the other. No trend was observed for the relationship between exposure time and either of the crack length variables; the same was observed for the relationship between WS and the two crack length variables. Through comparison of the histological characteristics of weathered bone with other sources of microtaphonomic alterations, it was determined that weathering and its histological characteristics are different from other alteration sources, including burial and thermal alteration, to allow for determination of the microtaphonomic process affecting the bone.

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The fields of Transitional Justice and Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology are all, one way or another, in the service of Truth Finding; theoretically they should be incorporated within each other’s theoretical frameworks and mechanisms, as the fields have considerate overlap. Approaching the fields from an academic perspective, one will soon learn that, although connected by Truth, their academic foundations are vastly different, in every sense possible; their ontology, epistemology as well as their dissemination of research. This work investigates whether the aforementioned elements impact the connectedness between fields. With the aid of Quantitative Content Analysis, Expert Interviews and statistical analysis, this work sets out to create an interdisciplinary Mixed Method piece of research. The results indicate that although awareness of the other fields exists, the data suggests that it is below the threshold of what it should be. The ontology, epistemology and dissemination have major roles is the gap of connectedness, however other developments in the past and present drive a wedge between the fields.

We present an unusual example of multiple mesosternal foramina (MMF). The alignment of the paired defects is unlike any previously described. Although single sternal defects are often encountered, paired defects are quite uncommon. This is the first documented example of bilateral paired defects in the sternum.

Forensic anthropologists rely on forensic evidence to estimate the postmortem interval of a decedent. This may include the study of the degree of deterioration of the human body, the life stage of insects, and the degradation of associated material evidence. Material evidence comes in many forms, and certain taphonomic processes will affect the material and must be considered when making inferences about a PMI. These include variables such as the characteristics of the soil, microorganisms, and the presence of a decaying organic material. Previous research has undertaken studies in how fabric degrades over time; however, there is no standard methodology in use. The purpose of this research project is to establish a comprehensive scoring system and description standard after analyzing the degradation of four different fabric types. This will be useful for future studies in need of a standard methodology. In addition, the methods used in this project can be applied to actual forensic cases. After retrieval, the fabric type with the highest degradation was the cotton with about 1/3 of all cotton fabric swatches demonstrating more than 50% total degradation. For all fabric types, swatches that were positioned flat tended to degrade more than those that were positioned crumpled. Cotton fabric swatches degraded more in Trench 1 and Trench 2 than the Ground Surface, however, all other fabric types demonstrated slightly more degradation on the Ground Surface than the other two Areas. Soil moisture fluctuated the most on the Ground Surface while Trench 1 and Trench 2 were able to retain more water in the soil. Overall, cotton was the only fabric type to degrade significantly enough to show how it degrades over time, while the other fabric types have longer degradation intervals that must be studied further.

Identification of osseous materials is generally established on gross anatomical factors; however, highly fragmented or taphonomically altered materials are often problematic and alternative methods, such as biological, histological, or chemical analysis, must be utilized. Recently, chemical methods have been proposed to sort unknown materials according to their Ca/P ratios. Ubelaker and colleagues (2002) proposed using SEM/EDX to achieve this distinction and Christensen and colleagues (2012) have validated X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) for this application. An alternative method of analysis involves performing principal component analysis (PCA) on element spectra to classify unknown materials based on their trace element composition. Zimmerman (2013) proposed the validity of this method with data obtained using hand held XRF. Subsequently, performing PCA on elemental data obtained using SEM/EDX demonstrates potential for material differentiation. Elemental weight percent data were collected using SEM/EDX then processed in R, version 3.0.1, by the R Foundation for Statistical Computing using PCA and Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis. A two-tiered analysis was undertaken to improve discrimination between sample groups. The first tier involved distinguishing between osseous and non-osseous materials. After outliers were removed overall correct classification was 98.02% with one of 1504 osseous and 39 of 520 non-osseous spectra misclassifying. Since forty spectra were collected for each sample, the single misclassifying spectra would not affect the overall classification of the sample, resulting in 100% correct classification with a 0% error rate for the osseous samples. The second tier assessed differentiation of human and non-human osseous materials but demonstrated a poor correct classification rate of 72.41%. Finally, a blind study was conducted using 20 samples to assess the applicability for using this method to classify unknown materials as osseous or non-osseous. All of the samples were correctly classified resulting in 100% correct classification, further demonstrating the efficiency of SEM/EDX and statistical analysis for differentiation of osseous and non-osseous materials. Due to its high specificity, small sample requirements, and relative non-destructive testing protocol, as well as its presence in most modern crime laboratories, SEM/EDX has been proposed as a laboratory method for chemical differentiation of osseous and non-osseous materials. Additionally, the proposed method does not require advanced training or knowledge of analytical chemistry as the SEM/EDX provides clear results that can be processed using publically available statistical analysis software. By assessing and improving chemical analysis methodologies used for material differentiation, forensic anthropologists might be able to identify osseous and non-osseous samples as a preemptive step in forensic investigations involving fragmentary and taphonomically modified materials, reducing time and cost investments spent on forensically insignificant samples.

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) can be a useful geophysical instrument in the search and detection of clandestine graves in a forensic context. Controlled research in the field of forensic archaeology has demonstrated the applicability of this technology and is vital for improving GPR search methods. The objectives of this research was to evaluate the applicability of GPR, using 250 MHz and 500 MHz antennae, to locate shallow graves containing small pig cadavers in various burial scenarios over a 12 month period. Data was collected on a controlled grid containing six graves at 0.5 m in depth: five graves containing pig carcasses and one control grave. The five graves containing the pig carcasses were devised to test a number of common forensic burial scenarios. The reflection profile data was processed using the computer program REFLEXW. The results demonstrate that the additional grave items did not always increase the detection of the grave for this monitoring period. Further, the low demarcation of the grave containing disturbed backfill illustrated that the hyperbolic reflection features were the result of the pig carcasses and not the disturbed soil. In terms of antenna performance, the 250 MHz data initially provided a higher resolution within the first few months. However, over time the higher detail provided by the 500 MHz data consistently resulted in easily discernable reflections.

Forensic anthropologists normally examine bone from a variety of medicolegal contexts. The skeletal remains may in some cases be highly fragmented or taphonomically modified, making it difficult to sort bone from non-bone material. In these cases, the forensic anthropologist may rely on microscopic or destructive chemical analyses to sort the material. However, these techniques are costly and time-intensive, prompting the use of nondestructive analytical methods in distinguishing bone and teeth from non-bone materials in a limited number of cases. The proposed analytical techniques are limited in that they rely on an examination of the major elements in the material, and do not sort out all materials with a similar chemical composition to bone/teeth. To date, no methods have been proposed for the use of handheld Xray fluorescence (HHXRF) spectrometry in discriminating human and nonhuman bone/teeth from non-bone materials. The purpose of this research was to develop a method for the use of HHXRF spectrometry in forensic anthropology specifically related to distinguishing human and nonhuman bone and teeth from non-bone materials of a similar chemical composition using multivariate statistical analyses: principal components analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). This was accomplished in two phases. Phase 1 consisted of a Reliability Test and involved sampling a single human long bone in thirty locations. Multiple spectra were collected at each location to examine the reliability of the instrument in detecting the elements both within a single site and between multiple sites. The results of the Reliability Test indicated that HHXRF consistently detected the major and minor elements found on the surface of a human bone. iv These results were used for Phase 2, designated the Accuracy Test, which involved analyzing a set of materials compiled from the literature to test the accuracy of the technique in discriminating bone (human and nonhuman) and non-bone samples (other biological and nonbiological). The results of the Accuracy Test indicate that osseous and dental tissue can be distinguished from non-bone material of similar chemical composition with a high degree of accuracy (94%) when data is collected from several locations on a sample and analyzed separately during multivariate statistical analyses. Overall, it was not possible to discriminate rock apatite and synthetic hydroxyapatite (synthetic bone) from bone. However, this technique successfully discriminated other non-bone materials that are chemically similar to bone, such as ivory and octocoral, which previous methods focusing on only a comparison of Ca/P ratios were unable to distinguish from bone.