A Statistical Technique for Classifying Human Skeletal Remains

1959 ◽  
Vol 24 (4Part1) ◽  
pp. 375-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. McKern ◽  
E. H. Munro
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Physical Characteristics ◽  
Primary Interest ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Skeletal Material ◽  
Physical Anthropologist

Arecurring question posed to the physical anthropologist by his archaeological associates concerns the problem of properly classifying new skeletal finds within the framework of a known local prehistory. An analysis may result which is initially purely quantitative. However, problems demanding interpretation often develop. For example, when the physical characteristics of prehistoric populations have been metrically described, their industrial accomplishments outlined, and their place in time fairly well established, the problem of spatial distribution becomes a primary interest. The discovery of skeletal material, peripheral to the known area of occupation, must be explained either as an addition to the known biological pattern or as representing a foreign element.

Reburying Australian skeletons

Antiquity ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 61 (232) ◽  
pp. 292-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Webb
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Physical Anthropologist

Dr Webb, as a physical anthropologist working in Australia, is one of the professionals whose work would most directly be affected by reburial of human skeletal remains. He gives here, at the invitation of the editor, his impressions of reburial issues in Australia; the opinions expressed here are strictly his own and may not reflect those of his colleagues.

Comparison of Two Methods for Isolating DNA from Human Skeletal Remains for STR Analysis

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 706-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Rucinski ◽  
Ayda L. Malaver ◽  
Emilio J. Yunis ◽  
Juan J. Yunis
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Str Analysis

scholarly journals The elusive parasite: comparing macroscopic, immunological, and genomic approaches to identifying malaria in human skeletal remains from Sayala, Egypt (third to sixth centuries AD)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvie Loufouma Mbouaka ◽  
Michelle Gamble ◽  
Christina Wurst ◽  
Heidi Yoko Jäger ◽  
Frank Maixner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Rapid Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Pathological Changes ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
The Past ◽  
A Site ◽  
Capture Sequencing

AbstractAlthough malaria is one of the oldest and most widely distributed diseases affecting humans, identifying and characterizing its presence in ancient human remains continue to challenge researchers. We attempted to establish a reliable approach to detecting malaria in human skeletons using multiple avenues of analysis: macroscopic observations, rapid diagnostic tests, and shotgun-capture sequencing techniques, to identify pathological changes, Plasmodium antigens, and Plasmodium DNA, respectively. Bone and tooth samples from ten individuals who displayed skeletal lesions associated with anaemia, from a site in southern Egypt (third to sixth centuries AD), were selected. Plasmodium antigens were detected in five of the ten bone samples, and traces of Plasmodium aDNA were detected in six of the twenty bone and tooth samples. There was relatively good synchronicity between the biomolecular findings, despite not being able to authenticate the results. This study highlights the complexity and limitations in the conclusive identification of the Plasmodium parasite in ancient human skeletons. Limitations regarding antigen and aDNA preservation and the importance of sample selection are at the forefront of the search for malaria in the past. We confirm that, currently, palaeopathological changes such as cribra orbitalia are not enough to be certain of the presence of malaria. While biomolecular methods are likely the best chance for conclusive identification, we were unable to obtain results which correspond to the current authentication criteria of biomolecules. This study represents an important contribution in the refinement of biomolecular techniques used; also, it raises new insight regarding the consistency of combining several approaches in the identification of malaria in past populations.

scholarly journals Profiling of human burned bones: oxidising versus reducing conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. M. Marques ◽  
D. Gonçalves ◽  
A. P. Mamede ◽  
T. Coutinho ◽  
E. Cunha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inelastic Neutron Scattering ◽  
Inelastic Neutron ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Anaerobic Conditions ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Reducing Conditions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Burned Bones ◽  
Vibrational Bands

AbstractComplementary optical and neutron-based vibrational spectroscopy techniques (Infrared, Raman and inelastic neutron scattering) were applied to the study of human bones (femur and humerus) burned simultaneously under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions, in a wide range of temperatures (400 to 1000 °C). This is the first INS study of human skeletal remains heated in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere. Clear differences were observed between both types of samples, namely the absence of hydroxyapatite’s OH vibrational bands in bone burned anaerobically (in unsealed containers), coupled to the presence of cyanamide (NCNH2) and portlandite (Ca(OH)2) in these reductive conditions. These results are expected to allow a better understanding of the heat effect on bone´s constituents in distinct environmental settings, thus contributing for an accurate characterisation of both forensic and archaeological human skeletal remains found in distinct scenarios regarding oxygen availability.

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