Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
estimation. There is much more to be explored. Allow the references herein to be points
of departure.
There are numerous possibilities for research in this area. Biological distance studies
have the potential to reveal more about the evolutionary forces and therefore unique pop-
ulation histories that have characterized Homo sapiens asawhole,bothinthepastandinthe
present. Increased and improved use of classification and exploratory statistics play a role
in how we identify patterns of human variation and how we can use that variation to iden-
tify skeletonized remains. As Spradley and colleagues (2008:21) assert, “The formulae used
by forensic anthropologists are only as good as the data that are used to derive them.”
Therefore, improving our datasets with craniometric and nonmetric data from modern
populations all over the world will ultimately enhance our ability to estimate ancestry in
addition to increasing our understanding of human variation.
Moreover, do not neglect to consider research regarding how race is culturally constructed
(
Gravlee, 2009
) or how the race concept has affected individuals socially and biologically
(
Armelagos and Goodman, 1998; Harrison, 1995, 1999
). Look to collaborate with anthropol-
ogists in other subdisciplines (
Mukhopadhyay and Moses, 1997
), as the sociocultural aspect
of race is just as important as applying ancestry estimation to skeletons. We are holistic
anthropologists first, united by the Culture concept with the other subdisciplines in anthro-
pology. Remember, gone are the days of typology and biological determinism. Today, anthro-
pologists must document human variation, its social consequences, and understand the
global patterns of variation as they actually exist.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to Dr. Natalie Shirley, whose thoughtful comments and suggestions on a draft
of this chapter improved its contents. We would also like to thank Dr. Bruce Anderson for
providing and granting permission for the use of the cranium photographs in the case study.
Thanks are further due to Dr. Jonathan Bethard for providing the results from the L
´
pez and
colleagues (2012) presentation.
REFERENCES
Algee-Hewitt, B.F.B., 2011. If and How Many 'Races'? The Application of Mixture Modeling to World-Wide Human
Craniometric Variation. Unpublished PhD dissertation. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
Anderson, B.E., 2008. Identifying the dead: Methods utilized by the Pima County (Arizona) Office of the Medical
Examiner for undocumented border crossers: 2001
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2006. Journal of Forensic Sciences 53 (1), 8
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Anderson, B.E., Parks, B.O., 2008. Symposium on border crosser deaths: introduction. Journal of Forensic Sciences
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Armelagos, G.L., Goodman, A.H., 1998. Race, racism, and anthropology. In: Goodman, A.H., Leatherman, T.L.
(Eds.), Building a New Biocultural Synthesis. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, pp. 359
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Birkby, W.H., Fenton, T.W., Anderson, B.E., 2008. Identifying southwest Hispanics using nonmetric traits and the
cultural profile. Journal of Forensic Sciences 53 (1), 29
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Blakey, M.L., 1987. Skull doctors: intrinsic social and political bias in the history of American physical anthropology
with special reference to the work of Ales Hrdlicka. Critique of Anthropology 7 (2), 7
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Blakey, M.L., 1999. Scientific racism and the biological concept of race. Literature and Psychology 45 (1/2),
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