Forensic anthropology

Diagnosing the sex of subadult skeletal material is a difficult task for bioarchaeologists and forensic anthropologists. Metric and nonmetric techniques have been tested utilizing both fetal (Boucher 1957, Weaver 1980) and juvenile (Loth and Henneberg 2001, Weaver 1980) skeletal remains. Some metric techniques show promise in estimating the sex of juvenile skeletons, but most are found to be lacking in adequate accuracies (Holcomb and Konigsberg 1995, Weaver 1980). Nonmetric techniques have been found to be more accurate, performing better than chance (Loth and Henneberg 2001, Mittler and Sheridan 1992, Weaver 1980). This study adds to this conversation, utilizing the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, testing the accuracy of eight nonmetric traits of the subadult mandible and ilium for use in forensic investigations and bioarchaeological research.

The prehistoric Belle Glade Culture, dwelling around Lake Okeechobee in interior Florida, is one of the most understudied cultures in North America. The purpose of this study is to define population characteristics about this culture through skeletal analysis of the collected remains from the type site for the culture, Belle Glade Mound (8PB41). To address the confounding factors of fragmentation and commingling, recently developed methods, statistical analyses, and specially designed software for such analyses of confounded collections were used in undertaking this study. A biological profile was developed that includes age-at-death estimations, sex estimations, stature estimations, and ancestral estimations in order to create a paleodemographic summary that more adequately describes this unknown population.