Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

Variation In Cortical Bone Distribution In The Aging Adult Appendicular Skeleton, Alice Fazlollah Gooding

Doctoral Dissertations

This study considers the effects of age on the distribution of bone in the adult skeleton. Age effects on the skeleton have been studied for diagnosis of osteoporosis or as mechanical compensatory changes to bone shape with loss in density. However, adult skeletal morphology is the result of a lifetime of genetic, dietary, activity, and biochemical factors. With these influences, it unclear at what age(s) bone geometry shifts to adapt to the physiological and mechanical demands placed on it, or, how these adaptations vary within and between bones.

This research addresses these questions by examining skeletal data obtained from the …

The Influence Of Body Size On Sexual Dimorphism, Haley Elizabeth Horbaly

Masters Theses

Accurate sex estimation of human skeletal remains is imperative for skeletal biologists, and relies upon the sexual dimorphism between males and females in a population. The degree of dimorphism, and hence the accuracy of sex estimation methods, are known to vary among populations, and while such global patterns have been well studied, the underlying causes of this variation are relatively unclear. Body size—a sexually dimorphic trait that also varies among populations—has previously been shown to affect skeletal morphology, yet whether specific body size parameters, such as stature and body mass, influence the expression of traits used for nonmetric sex estimation …

An Exploration Of The Effects Of Taphonomy On Isotope Ratios Of Human Hair, Tiffany Bivens Saul

Doctoral Dissertations

Isotope analyses of human remains have been conducted with growing frequency over the past thirty years in anthropology, in both archaeological and forensic contexts. Analyses of isotope ratios of elements such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and strontium from teeth, bones, and hair have provided information regarding individual diet and geographic movement during different life stages. Hair grows at a predictable rate and provides a serial recording of diet and travel history for the weeks and months just prior to death. What has not been systematically studied is whether postmortem decompositional changes to the body have an effect upon isotope …

The Effects Of Racialization On European American Stress In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, Kimberly T. Wren

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores disparities in stress among European Americans (EA) and between EA and African Americans (AA) in racialized communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Comparisons among EA and between EA and AA are conducted to understand the biological consequences of racialization. Racialization is the process of assigning people to hierarchical categories for purposes of political, social, and economic discrimination. This dissertation investigates how racialization might have affected childhood stress using biocultural theory and facets of critical archaeology theory. Indicators of stress from skeletonized individuals in the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection, and the Robert …

Estimating Postmortem Intervals Of Human Remains Recovered In Mid-Western Waterways: A Test Of Terrestrial And Aquatic Body Scoring Methods, Amanda Rose Fink

Masters Theses

In attempt to determine postmortem intervals (PMI), forensic investigators often rely on observed amounts of postmortem taphonomic alterations of the human body. Research has been conducted in an attempt to understand and predict the sequence and rate of human decomposition using total body scoring methods as well as accumulated degree days (ADD) (Megyesi et al. 2005). While most research focuses on methods of decomposition scoring in terrestrial environments, Heaton et al. (2010) devised a method to aid in the prediction of PMI and postmortem submersion intervals (PMSI) in an aqueous environment. Using 73 forensic cases collected from the Hennepin County, …

Geographic Information Systems (Gis) And Predictive Modeling Of Body Disposal Sites, Annemarie Catherine Gundel

Masters Theses

Homicide victims are often discovered by accident or located through witness testimony, both of which are unreliable methods. Moving a victim’s body from the scene of the crime to a secondary disposal site may further complicate their discovery, delaying recovery, identification, and evidence collection. Homicides are exponentially more difficult to investigate, solve, and prosecute without a body. In the medicolegal context, a body disposal site prediction model is an alternative to relying on luck or witness testimony. Predictive models were created using body disposal data collected from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), Connecticut, to explore the feasibility …

Identity By The Numbers: Cancerous Lesions And Likelihood Ratios, William Daniel Cawley

Masters Theses

The use of Bayesian theory has been gaining popularity within the forensic anthropology community for its ability to model the way in which decisions are made based upon varying levels of confidence. However, many forensic anthropologists have been reticent to adapt Bayesian approaches given the general lack of knowledge in regards to this approach (Konigsberg and Frankenburg, 2013:153). The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how the application of an establish Bayesian framework can be used to determine likelihood ratios representing the probative value of skeletal lesions consistent with cancer for use in forensic personal identification. To do this, …

Addressing The Challenges Of Identifying Migrant Remains, Jamie C. Bazen

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.