Developing a biological profile in forensic anthropology is vital for the medico-legal field. Forensic anthropologists have long sought to develop ancestry and sex determination methods using complete and fragmented skeletal elements. Ancestry is most commonly assessed using cranial traits. Sex is assessed using the os coxa and cranial traits. Post-cranial methods for identifying individuals are needed in the field because cranial and pelvic elements are often broken and incomplete. Examining other elements can increase the likelihood of identification of the individual in question. Eugene Marino (1993; 1995; 1997) developed a method for estimating ancestry and sex from eight measurements of the superior and inferior articular surfaces and vertebral foramen of the atlas from individuals of European and African descent from the Terry and Hamann-Todd collections. This study applies Marinos method to post-1950s individuals who are self-classified as Hispanic, Euro-American, and, African-American. Two hundred and fourteen specimens were measured from the William Bass Skeletal Collection, the Pima County, Arizonas Medical Examiners Office, and the Maxwell Museum at the University of New Mexico. Each measurement was obtained using sliding calipers. The measurements taken from this study were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to establish discriminant functions that distinguishes sex and ancestry from Euro-Americans, African-Americans, and Hispanics. This study concludes that the atlas can be used with a relatively accurate prediction to determine ancestry and sex of three modern population groups.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-05242013-092600 |
| Date | 24 May 2013 |
| Creators | Swenson, Victoria Marie |
| Contributors | Dr. Randall Skelton, Dr. Ashley McKeown, Mr. Dave Dyer, MS, Mr. Eugene Marino, MA |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05242013-092600/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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