Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
conceptualization of trauma as a continuum is presented. Case-based and experimental
research is evaluated and discussed as two major avenues in which trauma research is con-
ducted. Further, logistics particular to trauma research is reviewed.
Chapter 9 explores the field of taphonomy and its relevance to biological anthropology. It
provides an overview of the postmortem perspective, presents the different types of research
modalities used to explore taphonomic questions (e.g., actualistic research), and reviews how
to recognize and interpret marks on bone. It further provides a discussion of outdoor
research facilities that have greatly expanded our knowledge in this area. Two case studies
are presented
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one demonstrating how taphonomy can be used in a medicolegal context,
and one that illustrates how taphonomic analyses can be applied to historical questions.
Chapter 10 tackles dental anthropology. It presents a basic overview of dental anatomy
and tooth growth and development. The importance of such aspects as emergence patterns
and conditions that may affect the teeth during their development is briefly discussed. It
further includes treatment of how dental metrics and nonmetrics are used to generate valu-
able information, such as sex, age, and ancestry estimations from the teeth alone. It addition-
ally demonstrates how analyses of dental disease, stable isotopes, and microwear from teeth
have provided important data for a variety of anthropological studies.
Chapter 11 is dedicated to demography, crucial for skeletal biologists to consider when
reconstructing population structure, morbidity, and mortality. The chapter takes the stand-
point that demographic analysis should precede the estimation of individual ages-at-death
or sex. The method of maximum likelihood is introduced as being able to estimate basic
demographic parameters from skeletal data. These parameters can then be used to estimate
age-at-death and sex. This chapter is the only one in the topic that dives very specifically and
purposefully into statistical analysis, necessary given the nature of generating demographic
profiles. Case studies throughout the chapter therefore make use of Bayes' Theorem, hazard
models, and maximum likelihood, all of which can be explored further by the reader through
the website provided in the text.
Part III: Technological Advances
In recent years, the study of biological anthropology has been enhanced by the advent of
advanced analytical methods. Part III: Technological Advances has five chapters, each of which
covers a different area highlighting advanced applications of technology to the practice of
biological anthropology. All of these subjects have been studied for some time in other fields,
and anthropologists have been realizing and adapting their utility for skeletal biology. These
chapters include geometric morphometrics, histology, functional morphology and medical
imaging, isotopic analysis, and DNA.
Chapter 12 introduces geometric morphometrics
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the analysis of geometry of form (most
notably for the skull) via multidimensional data. The history of traditional morphometrics is
presented and multivariate statistical methods for analysis of morphometric data are
discussed. Further, the different types of landmarks and the utility of three-dimensional
data (and how it is collected) are outlined. The chapter additionally provides specific discus-
sion of methods particular to geometric morphometric analysis, such as Procrustes analysis,
and a listing of statistical programs capable of analyzing such data. Further, the relevance
