A análise do mtDNA vem sendo empregada, recentemente, em Ciência Forense, para identificação de indivíduos e resolução de casos criminais. Também vem sendo utilizada em estudos de genética de populações contribuindo com processos relacionados com o grau de miscigenação dos povos e com a ocupação dos diferentes continentes por populações humanas. O DNA mitocondrial está presente em inúmeras cópias por célula, é de origem materna e não sofre processos de recombinação, o que faz com que essa molécula seja uma poderosa ferramenta nesta área. A análise por mtDNA só é recomendada quando não existe mais fonte de DNA nuclear, ou quando este se encontra altamente degradado, como em amostras forenses. Um dos problemas encontrados é a interferência de artefatos durante as etapas pré e pós sequenciamento, na qual pode se obter uma seqüência de má qualidade. O presente estudo comparou e otimizou dez métodos de purificação de DNA mitocondrial, para amostras de restos mortais e in vivo, nas etapas pré e pós sequenciamento. A metodologia empregada consistiu em extrair o DNA da amostra biológica, amplificar por PCR, seqüenciar as referidas regiões do mtDNA das amostras selecionadas e analisar após eletroforese capilar. A enzima colagenase foi testada com o objetivo de avaliar sua eficiência na etapa de extração do DNA. Interligado a esta etapa, outro objetivo foi avaliar o grau de polimorfismo das regiões HVS-I e HVS-II do mtDNA em amostras da população do estado do Rio de Janeiro como forma de entender o fluxo gênico associado à formação da nossa população. Como conclusão, os melhores métodos de purificação utilizados foram o Centricon, seguido da purificação dos produtos amplificados pela resina da Amershan e dos produtos da reação de sequenciamento pela resina Sephadex. Houve baixa eficiência da enzima colagenase, indicando a presença de possíveis inibidores. Em relação ao banco de dados, foram encontrados 95 polimorfismos distintos na região HVS-I e 52 na região HVS-II. O polimorfismo mais freqüente na região HVS-I foi 16223 (74,5%), enquanto que na região HVS-II foi o 263 (60%). Foram encontrados 92 diferentes haplótipos na região HVS-I e 42 na região HVS-II. Podemos dizer que a população do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, via herança materna, é constituída, em maior parte, pelos africanos (50%), seguidos dos ameríndios (30%) com uma pequena participação dos europeus (21%), demonstrando a grande miscigenação do nosso estado. / Analysis of mtDNA has been employed, recently, in Forensic Science, for identification of peoples and solves criminal cases. So has been used in genetic populations studies and had contributed for understand of process related with degree of mixture people and with occupation of different continents by populations humans. Mitochondrial DNA is present in many copies by cell. It is maternal inheritance and not suffer recombination. So, this cell is powerful tool in this area. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA is recommend when not exist more nuclear DNA or it be degraded as in forensic samples. One of problems find are the artifact encountered during the phases before and after sequencing where can obtained the bad quality sequence. The present study compared and optimized methods of mitochondrial DNA purification to samples human remains and in vivo in phases before and after sequencing. The methodology of analysis by mitochondrial DNA consist in extract it of biological sample, amplify the regions HVS-I and HVS-II of control region, sequence the products amplified and analysis after electroforesis capilar. The colagenase was tested with objective of value its efficiency in phase DNA extraction. In relation that fase, other objective was value the degree polymorphisms in regions HVS-I and HVS-II of mtDNA in samples of population of Rio de Janeiro to contribute for understand of flow genetics associated to formation of our population. As conclusion, the best methods of purification used was Centricon, follow by purification of amplifications products by Amershan and purification od products sequencing by Sephadex. It had fall efficiency of colagenase indicate the presence of probable inhibitors. In relation of data base, was encountered 95 polymorfisms distincts in region HVS-I and 52 in region HVS-II. The polimorfism more often in region HVS-I was 16223 (74,5%), while in region HVS-II was 263 (60%). It was encountered 92 differents haplotypes in region HVS-I and 42 in region HVS-II. It had lower rates of heteroplasmy. We can said that the population of Rio de Janeiro state, by maternal inheritance, was determined, in more portion, by Africans (50%), follow by Amerindians (30%) with small portion of Europeans (21%), showing the bigger miscegenation of our state.

O objetivo dessa dissertação é entender quais são e como se dão os padrões de variabilidade de contextos funerários dos grupos Guarani e Tupinambá, com foco na região da bacia dos rios Paranapanema e alto Paraná. Para tal, fizemos um levantamento bibliográfico de sítios com contextos funerários, escavados por diversos arqueólogos e arqueólogas, que se localizam nos estados de São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul e Rio de Janeiro. Desses sítios, escolhemos aqueles que possuíam mais informação e material disponível para análise como a base para nossas considerações. Analisamos material cerâmico e remanescentes humanos, e fizemos um levantamento de práticas funerárias de grupos Tupinambá e diversos grupos Guarani a partir de fontes etnohistóricas. Os dados analisados demonstram que a variabilidade das práticas funerárias desses grupos é constituída por continuidades e descontinuidades, elementos básicos que se repetem e elementos que se distinguem. Esses elementos estão presentes na cerâmica, na espacialidade funerária, e conversam com padrões de assentamento. Eles mostram como grupos Guarani e Tupinambá ocuparam áreas ao longo do Paranapanema e afluentes, formando diferentes ocupações que por vezes podem ter existido em um período próximo, no qual esses dois grupos - ou ao menos pessoas que faziam cerâmicas desses dois tipos - podem ter convivido. / The aim of this dissertation is to understand what are and how are the patterns of variability of the funerary contexts of Guarani and Tupinambá groups, focused on the region of the Paranapanema and upper Paraná rivers basins. For such purpose we had conducted an extensive literature review of sites with funerary contexts, excavated by different archaeologists, located in São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio de Janeiro states. From these sites we selected those who had more information and material available for analysis as the basis of the research. We analyzed pottery and human remains, and we consulted ethnohistorical sources about funerary practices of Tupinambá groups and several Guarani groups. The analyzed data demonstrate that the variability of the funerary practices of these groups is constituted by continuities and discontinuities, basic elements that are repeated and elements that are distinguished. These elements are present in pottery, funerary spatiality and settlement patterns. They show how Guarani and Tupinambá groups occupied areas along the Paranapanema and tributaries, forming different occupations that may have existed, in some cases, in a near period, in which these two groups - or people who produced these two different types of pottery - may have coexisted.

The identification of victims involved in mass fatality incidents, as well as the identification of unknown individuals in criminal cases has become an increasingly important issue nowadays. Sex assessment represents a key point in forensic evaluations due to its significance in providing biological identity. Even though the availability of documented skeletal remains to forensic practitioners is a common practice in many countries, in Turkey, contemporary documented skeletal remains are not available for this purpose. For this reason, studies have been focused on living populations. Previous research has shown that modern technologies such as CT scanning present very promising potential in establishing new standards for contemporary populations. Therefore, the main aim of this project was to examine the application of the measurements taken from 3D CT images of the femur in order to assess sex, and to contribute to the establishment of discriminant function equations for the Turkish population for forensic applications. The accuracy and reproducibility of imaging methods in the assessment of the measurements taken from femora are essential when estimating sex. This research also concentrated on determining the accuracy and repeatability of CT measurements, using the femur. Prior to primary data collection, a preliminary study was performed in an effort to test the reliability of the femur measurements. The results of reliability analysis indicated no significant difference between the three observations of each measurement. Thus, the methodology employed in the current study appears reliable and reproducible. In addition, a validation study was conducted to determine the linear measurement accuracy of the 3D volume rendering models derived from a medical CT scanner and the influence of different reconstruction parameters. The differences between measurements obtained from dry bones and their 3D volume rendered models were also evaluated. The results from this study indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between measurements taken from different reconstruction parameters and measurements obtained from CT images and drybones. Using the CT data, volume-rendering function (VR), 3D Curved Multiplanar reconstruction (MPR), and Scout View on OsiriX were employed in order to compare the accuracy and reliability of each rendering method and to determine which technique is optimal for linear measurements. Overall, the measurements taken from the 3D Volume Rendering images had the highest intra-observer reliability when compared to the other two rendering methods. This research study produced data and interpretations that will inform on and improve population specific standards of sex assessment from three-dimensional postcranial osteometric landmarks. Additionally, this research is believed to provide value for a developing discipline of forensic anthropology, and integrate within the existing systems of criminal investigation and disaster victim identification practices in Turkey. A Turkish sample population, consisting of 300 adult hospital patients was examined via the interpretation of CT reconstructed images using the OsiriX software. The 3D reconstructions were then created using the volume-rendering function in OsiriX (v.5.6.). Following the 3D reconstruction, an image of each femur was segmented from the surrounding bones to ensure the correct usage of landmarks as accurately as possible. Thirteen measurements were acquired using a 3D viewer after being located and marked on each CT reconstructed femora. These thirteen anthropometric parameters were measured and analysed by basic descriptive statistics and discriminant analysis methods using the SPSS 21.0 software package. The intra-observer variation was assessed by obtaining the intraclass correlation coefficient in order to evaluate the accuracy of the linear measurements taken. Asymmetry was also tested. The results indicated that an accuracy of 92.3% was acquired from a combination of six of the measurements, and the Femur Vertical Diameter of Neck (FVDN) measurement was found to be the most dimorphic with 88.0% accuracy.

The focus of the thesis is the poorly-understood rite of decapitated inhumation which was practiced predominantly in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD in Britain. Previous studies have often involved the accumulation of data on decapitated inhumations themselves and cross analysis of examples. Conclusions drawn on the meaning of the rite almost invariably place it in opposition to 'normal' Late Romano-British funerary behaviour and consequently interpret decapitation as reflecting negatively on the social identity of the deceased. Because of this, decapitated inhumations are commonly referred to as 'deviant burials' in academic literature. This thesis argues that the interpretation of decapitated burial as 'deviant' is an artificial product of the methodologies employed in its analysis. The lack of contextualisation within the mortuary structures of late Roman Britain has entrenched the view that decapitated burial stood in contrast to 'normal', 'acceptable' funerary behaviour. By using quantitative and qualitative analysis of funerary behaviour within three regional case studies, this thesis adopts a contextualising approach to decapitated burials in order to place these individuals in relation to the social parameters governing burial within the communities in which they are found. This analysis takes into account the settlement profiles and regional variations in mortuary practices particular to each area, to investigate how these impacted on the adoption and performance of decapitated burial. Other evidence for the fragmentation of human remains during the Roman period is also investigated and assessed in relation to the decapitation rite. It is concluded that, in all three case studies, the funerary treatment of decapitated persons may be aligned with the prevailing structures governing burial of non-decapitated individuals, despite the differences in funerary behaviour between each region. This implies that decapitated individuals were not treated in opposition to standard burial practices and that interpretations of them as 'deviant' are unsound. In addition, the need to consider wider contemporary burial habits in relation to decapitated inhumation, particularly those involving other forms of corpse fragmentation, is highlighted. Assessment of disarticulated and semi-articulated deposits of human remains demonstrates that parallels may be drawn between the processes that led to the deposition of this material and the processes surrounding decapitated inhumation. It is argued that decapitated inhumation should be understood as a facet of broader mortuary practices involving the fragmentation of human remains practiced in certain areas of Roman Britain, rather than being treated as an anomalous variation of supine extended inhumation.

Correct race and sex determination of unknown skeletal material is an important aspect of forensic anthropology. Numerous studies have focused on the differences, both osteometric and morphological, between the sexes of a particular racial phenotype, between race groups, and populations. From previous work by a variety of researchers, the necessity of population specific standards for identification has been demonstrated. The purpose of this research was to examine the metric and morphological differences in the pelvis between the sexes and races of South African whites and blacks. Results will be used in developing standards of identification tailored to this population. A sample of 400 known sex/race os coxae were examined. Skeletal material was obtained from the Pretoria collection housed at the University of Pretoria, Department of Anatomy and the Dart collection located at the University of Witwatersrand, Department of Anatomical Sciences. A series of thirteen measurements and five morphological characteristics were examined. Indices were calculated from data obtained from the metric analysis. Left and right sides were examined and those bones visibly pathologically deformed were excluded from the study. Data were subjected to SPSS stepwise and direct discriminant analysis. Results showed ischial length as the most sexually dimorphic characteristic in whites, while acetabulum diameter was best in blacks. Four functions (using pelvic dimensions) were developed for determining sex. Highest accuracies were achieved from function 1 (including all dimensions) which correctly classified 92-96% of individuals. Race differences were also investigated. Pubic length was chosen as best for discriminating between races for males and iliac breadth as best in females. Accuracies were 86-89% for males and 82-88% for females. Accuracies for sex discrimination were consistent with earlier studies. Morphological results yielded >80% accuracy for all traits in white males except greater sciatic notch shape where only 33% were correctly classified. A population specific variation in sciatic notch shape was observed where >50% of the white males had a wide sciatic notch previously thought to be a female expression. Black males recorded 81 % correct classification for pubic shape and >90% for the remaining characteristics. Greater sciatic notch and pubic bone shape achieved highest accuracies with 96% for both traits in white females, and 84% and 88% in black females respectively. In conclusion, this study conclusively demonstrates that race and population differences affect the expression of sexual dimorphism and must be accounted for to develop the most effective methods of analysis. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Anatomy / unrestricted

In 2019 media articles about clearance of human remains at a museum in Gothenburg caught my attention. The remains would either be destroyed, reburied or repatriated. The politically driven management, Västarvet, had made a decision on clearance of human remains at two museums in Gothenburg, which created reactions both in the research world and in the media. That´s why I chose to study deaccession of human remains in museums.  The purpose of this master's thesis is to study how the principles for human remains, and attitudes towards deaccession of human remains have changed since the 19th century, and why? This is studied through a power and ethical perspective. The thesis research question is, what are the attitudes to clearance of human remains and how have the principles changed? This question is broken down into three smaller questions, which are; What function have human remains had and what function do they have today? How has the view of human remains changed since the 19th century? What are the alternatives for clearance of human remains? The method in this thesis is mail interview and literature study. The theoretical standpoints in this thesis are power and ethic, where power is based upon Michel Foucault’s approach to power and subject. I have also included two cases of deaccession, one is Västarvet and the other one is a case of repatriation from the British Museum. Some of the results are that the function human remains have had, has partly changed over the past 200 years. Early on, human remains became study objects, which has continued into our time. But today the focus is mainly on research that is more or less ethically justifiable. Attitudes toward clearance of human remains in museums are generally something that comes with objections, specially from media. From museum professionals clearance is not something that they are opposed to, but at the same time it is a process that few in the industry use. This is a two years master´s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.

This research approaches archaeological human remains in museum collections from a rhetorical perspective. Instead of joining the body of scholarship in museum studies that focuses on the process of curatorial interpretation, this project applies public memory studies to explore what happens to curatorial interpretation when it goes out into the world and is taken up in public circulated discourse. With a focus on publics, the moment of knowledge construction when visitors approach a display of human remains in a museum is captured and analyzed through the lenses of new materialism, rhetoric in situ, and public memory studies. Each lens represents the chosen approach to each of the three elements that converge at the moment of knowledge construction ? publics, objects, and place ? which are grouped together as a triangle of interrelated dynamics all working in a situationally-contingent rhetorical ecology of other factors and influences. Thus, the dynamic inseparable trio of publics, objects, and place are coined the ?ecotriangle.? For museum studies, rhetoric?s foundational work can provide critical perspective into the nature of communication and meaning-making that happens when publics meet human remains in a museum space. In order to explore the ecotriangular relationship of publics, objects, and place with an interdisciplinary approach, this project begins by interrogating the implicit assumptions within the defitions of terms like ?public? and ?object? then develops collaborative definitions from the scholarship in rhetoric, archaeology, and museum studies. The particular case of human remains challenges most scholarships? definitions of object. Yet as this research reveals, human remains as case study help develop and refine the approach to objects, materiality, interpretation, and museum display when challenged to inclusively frame such a case instead of treat human remains as an exception or outlier to scholarship on objects. Exploring the ecotriangle as a heuristic model for conceptualization of interrelational dynamics in knowledge construction extends current scholarship in rhetoric, especially rhetoric in situ and rhetorical ecology, and also reinforces existing interdisciplinary bridges between the fields of rhetoric, archaeology, and museum studies.

The present study involves a multivariate assessment of the success of evidence recovery by searchers from various backgrounds and skill levels. Volunteers representing four experience levels (civilian volunteers, first year forensic anthropology graduate students, second year forensic anthropology graduate students, and first responders) conducted line searches of mock crime scenes, flagging items of forensic significance with pin flags. The groups were then briefly trained in human skeletal remains recovery, and implemented this training through a second set of mock scene searches. Recovery rates were compared across pre- and post-training trials and across searcher groups in order to determine the influence of searcher training and experience on search success. The results of this study reveal not only the percentage of evidence that was recovered by search teams, but exhibits the degree to which experience and training played a role in evidence recovery.

For over 250 years, Philadelphia scientists and doctors have stolen human remains to use in educational and entertainment. The borders of this practice have long been maintained by Philadelphians, making up a landscape of resistance and acceptance. Today many human remains out of the body trade reside in museums and educational institutions. The fight for post-mortem dignity persists in activist circles. resistance against post-mortem exploitation and exhibition have continuous roots in Philadelphia, taking place outside traditional archival scope and within marginalized communities subjected to the very defilement directed at targeted bodies. In Their Footsteps is an intervention into the physical, public landscape in Philadelphia that begins to mark sites of resistance against the body trade and display. The physical landmarks of the body trade, from collectors to subsequent institutions and exhibitions, are visible and protected spaces in the city. It is time to make visible the long-standing practice of resistance. Philadelphia is currently witness now to a fourth major wave of resistance and activism against complicit institutions and individuals. It situates the 2021 movement with three other major events: the Lebanon Cemetery Scandal of 1882, the Blockley Almshouse Board Intervention in 1845, and the Sailor’s Mob of 1765. / History

The East Alpine region formed an important crossroads in later prehistoric Europe, through which ideas, people and objects flowed. This was particularly the case during the Late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age, when an increasingly competitive society was evolving, with the formation of more complex social structures and the rise of ‘elites’. This has been evidenced in a shift in burial customs, from Urnfield-type cremation burial to the construction of tumuli and the adoption of elaborate inhumation burial. This multidisciplinary, multi-scalar approach to the analysis of human remains aims to explore the evolving structure, homogeneity and heterogeneity of communities inhabiting central and eastern Slovenia, and north-eastern Croatia, during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. The application of multiple methods, including the osteological analysis of cremated and non-cremated human remains, radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium) and aDNA analysis has facilitated the exploration and interpretation of later prehistoric social structure and lifestyle. The use of carbon (from enamel carbonate and collagen) and nitrogen stable isotope analysis has highlighted important dietary distinctions between communities inhabiting this region and previous studies from elsewhere in contemporary Europe – specifically a high dependence on millet as a staple crop. This has been evidenced by δ13C values of between -17‰ and -15.3‰ from bone collagen. δ15N values of between 7.6‰ and 9.1‰ support this interpretation as they do not indicate the consumption of marine protein. Increased δ15N values of up to 13.5‰ from deciduous dentine have been interpreted as the influence of dietary and metabolic conditions, particularly in the presentation of an Infant exhibited palaeopathological evidence of severe metabolic disease. Complementary isotopic methods, including oxygen isotope ratios and enamel carbonate carbon, have also highlighted heterogeneity in childhood diet, reflecting the transition from a high lipid diet of breastmilk, to a diet of carbohydrates, indicative of weaning. In addition to these findings, the application of radiocarbon dating on cremated and nio-cremated human bone has expanded the current understanding of mortuary practices in this study area. Inhumation burial, previously thought synomemous with the Iron Age, has been now been identified throughout the Bronze Age at the cemetery of Obrežje. The application of this multi-scalar approach to combining and interpreting these data sets has allowed for the investigation of individual biographies, as well as regional trends. This research illustrates the advantages of bringing together multiple lines of evidence for the creation of informed interpretations regarding the life, death and diet of prehistoric peoples of the East Alpine region, and beyond. / The Encounters and Transformations in Iron Age Europe (ENTRANS) Project, led by Ian Armit, with the Slovenian and Croatian principal investigators, Matija Črešnar and Hrvoje Potrebica. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 291827. The project is financially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme (www.heranet.info) which is co-funded by AHRC, AKA, BMBF via PT-DLR, DASTI, ETAG, FCT, FNR, FNRS, FWF, FWO, HAZU, IRC, LMT, MHEST, NWO, NCN, RANNÍS, RCN, VR and The European Community FP7 2007-2013, under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities programme. / The Appendices A-H are not available online.