Ancestry Determination from the Cranial Base Angle
Date
2014-01-15
Authors
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
The forensic identification of a set of human remains begins by creating a biological profile. A biological profile is an estimation of sex, age-at-death, stature and ancestry of the individual. This study analyzes the cranial base angle, located at the base of the skull, to address the question of ancestry. The midface region of the skull is most popularly used for ancestry determination, though it is made of fragile bone and is often not intact in archaeological settings. To most accurately determine ancestry from skeletal features of the midface a whole intact skull is required. Needing a whole skull makes it challenging to accurately determine ancestry from fragmented remains. The correct identification of an individual based on skeletal remains is dependent on all of the information gathered from the remains, ancestry included. This study of the cranial base angle was performed to demonstrate the cranial base’s potential to be an alternative region to the midface for ancestry determination. To perform this study a sample of crania was digitized with the assistance of the JPAC-CIL staff and facility under the mentorship of forensic anthropologist Dr. Joseph T. Hefner. A digitizer was used to gather 3D (X,Y,Z) coordinate data of cranial landmarks. The coordinate data was used to calculate the degree of the angle as well as look at the variation between represented ancestry groups. Further study of the cranial base has the potential to greatly improve ancestry determination, and identification, of fragmented skeletal remains.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Extent
31 pages
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
All UHM Honors Projects are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.