Estimating Ancestry

Question 1

What is the biological profile?

Answer 1

an estimate of demographic information including ancestry, sex, age, and stature

Question 2

What is the main duty of a forensic anthropologist?

Answer 2

establishing the biological profile

Question 3

TRUE or FALSE: there are patterns that exist based on sex, stature, ancestry, and age

Answer 3

TRUE

Question 4

Biological Race

Answer 4

distinct groups supposedly determined by observed physical features and used to legitimize and maintain inequality

Question 5

Ancestry

Answer 5

your line of descent (genes & ancestors); typically contextualized using national, ethnic, and/or racial labels

Question 6

TRUE or FALSE: there are pure ethnic groups, races, and ancestral groups

Answer 6

FALSE

Question 7

There ___ and ___ some degree of gene flow.

Answer 7

is; has always been

Question 8

Groups and group identity ___.

Answer 8

change over time

Question 9

TRUE or FALSE: biological races do not exist and are not supported by science

Answer 9

TRUE

Question 10

TRUE or FALSE: racial determinism does exist and is supported by science

Answer 10

FALSE

Question 11

Racial Determinism

Answer 11

race determines other characteristics about a person

Question 12

Racism

Answer 12

a prejudice against someone based on race, when those prejudices are reinforced by systems of power

Question 13

Typology

Answer 13

an approach of studying nature by classifying different phenomena and organisms into general types

Question 14

Impact of Carl Linnaeus

Answer 14

created the organism classification system we use today

Question 14

Impact of Samuel Morton

Answer 14

tried and failed at using cranial measurements to prove human races were distinct, unrelated groups

Question 14

Impact of Franz Boas

Answer 14

published “Changes in Bodily Form of Descendants of Immigrants”; meant to inform immigration policy but discovered that the skull changed a lot between generations

Question 14

Impact of Earnest Hooton

Answer 14

known for his research into criminal anthropology and the eugenics movement

Question 15

Eugenics

Answer 15

trying to breed better humans; most popular in the early 1900s

Question 15

TRUE or FALSE: research in forensic anthropology immediately changed focus from human races to human variation after WWII

Answer 15

FALSE

Question 15

What frequency of variation is found within population groups?

Answer 15

85-90%

Question 15

Criminal Anthropology

Answer 15

using physical differences to predict criminality

Question 16

What frequency of variation is found between population groups?

Answer 16

10-15%

Question 17

Human genetics and skeletal diversity show ___.

Answer 17

geographic patterning

Question 18

What does the statement “the genes and traits that best show patterns of populations history are selectively neutral” mean?

Answer 18

the traits are not impacted by natural selection

Question 19

TRUE or FASLE: there is no gene or trait for ancestry or race

Answer 19

TRUE

Question 20

TRUE or FALSE: race is a social construct with social and biological constructs

Answer 20

TRUE

Question 21

Ancestry is ___ using probabilistic statistical analysis.

Answer 21

estimated

Question 22

Ancestry reflect genetic patterns in ___ and ___ history.

Answer 22

population; migration

Question 23

Anthropologists contextualize ___ estimate with how ___ labels are applied locally.

Answer 23

ancestry; labels

Question 24

What are the two methods of estimating ancestry?

Answer 24

non-metric (morphoscopic) traits and metric (measurements)

Question 25

Can ancestry be estimated from juvenile remains?

Answer 25

No!

Question 26

TRUE or FALSE: traits used for ancestry estimated are discrete

Answer 26

FALSE

Question 27

Are single traits found exclusively in only one population?

Answer 27

No!

Question 28

What are the benefits of analysis with morphoscopic traits?

Answer 28

can be used on fragmentary remains and are relatively easy to use

Question 29

What are the drawbacks of analysis with morphoscopic traits?

Answer 29

can be highly subjective based on experience and older methods do not used combined patterns of population frequency data

Question 30

How is the anterior nasal spine cateogorized?

Answer 30

by the protrusion of the lower nose bone

Question 31

How is the interior nasal aperture categorized?

Answer 31

by the roundedness of the lower nose cross section

Question 32

How is nasal aperture width cateogorized?

Answer 32

by the width of the nostril area

Question 33

How is nasal bone contour categorized?

Answer 33

by how steep the bridge of the nose is

Question 34

How is interorbital breadth categorized?

Answer 34

by how wide the bridge of the nose to the eyes is

Question 35

How is the post-bregmatic depression cateogorized?

Answer 35

by the existence of the decrompression

Question 36

What are two other non-metric traits sometimes used to estimate ancestry?

Answer 36

shovel-shaped incisors and the curvature of the femoral shaft (limited accuracy)

Question 37

Can we use single traits to estimate ancestry?

Answer 37

No!

Question 38

Statistical methods used still assume ___ groups.

Answer 38

discrete (NOT true)

Question 39

Metric Methods

Answer 39

use cranial landmarks to take traditional measurements or record 3D landmark data

Question 40

Are non-metric or metric methods more objective?

Answer 40

metric methods

Question 41

Why can metric methods be problamatic? (three reasons)

Answer 41

measurements are sometimes ambiguous, limitations in reference samples, assumption of statistical methods

Question 42

What tool is used to measure the brain case?

Answer 42

spreading calipers

Question 43

What tool is used to measure the face?

Answer 43

sliding calipers

Question 44

What are two older methods of metric measurement?

Answer 44

1. using the indexes of the nose 2. measuring the angle of the intercondylar shelf

Question 45

Linear Discriminant Functional Analysis

Answer 45

Statistical procedure that sorts individuals into groups using multiple criteria

Question 46

What does discriminant functional analysis emphasize?

Answer 46

the differences between the groups

Question 47

What was a major drawback of the original discriminant function?

Answer 47

had to have all the measurements before you started

Question 48

What is the main advantage of 3D-ID and FORDISC?

Answer 48

Customizable!

Question 49

What are the two things that discriminant functional analysis assumes?

Answer 49

1. the unknown belongs to one of the given reference groups 2. the reference groups are discrete

Question 50

What is 3D-ID?

Answer 50

the use of a 3D digitizer to record x, y, and z coordinates of a landmark for analysis

Question 51

What important statistics are returned via 3D-ID and FORDISC?

Answer 51

probability and typicality

Question 52

What does FORDISC use as data?

Answer 52

traditional craniometric measurements

Question 53

What are the three drawbacks of 3D-ID and FORDISC?

Answer 53

1. assumes discrete groups 2. strongly relies on quality reference samples and measurements 3. reference samples are limited

Question 54

What is important to recognize about using any form of metric data analysis?

Answer 54

interpretation is still required!