Abstract

Simple SummaryWithin the practice of forensic anthropology ancestry is oftentimes used as a proxy for social race. This concept and its implications were explored via a content analysis (2009–2019) of the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Our findings revealed antiquated views of race based on the trifecta of continental populations (Asia, Europe, and Africa) continue to be pervasive in the field despite scientific invalidation of the concept of race decades earlier. Moreover, our employment of modern geometric morphometric and spatial analysis methods on craniofacial coordinate anatomical landmarks from several Latin American samples produced results in which the groups were not patterned by ancestry trifecta. Based on our findings we propose replacing the assumption of continental ancestry with a population structure approach that combines microevolutionary and cultural factors with historical events in the examination of population affinity.One of the parameters forensic anthropologists have traditionally estimated is ancestry, which is used in the United States as a proxy for social race. Its use is controversial because the biological race concept was debunked by scientists decades ago. However, many forensic anthropologists contend, in part, that because social race categories used by law enforcement can be predicted by cranial variation, ancestry remains a necessary parameter for estimation. Here, we use content analysis of the Journal of Forensic Sciences for the period 2009–2019 to demonstrate the use of various nomenclature and resultant confusion in ancestry estimation studies, and as a mechanism to discuss how forensic anthropologists have eschewed a human variation approach to studying human morphological differences in favor of a simplistic and debunked typological one. Further, we employ modern geometric morphometric and spatial analysis methods on craniofacial coordinate anatomical landmarks from several Latin American samples to test the validity of applying the antiquated tri-continental approach to ancestry (i.e., African, Asian, European). Our results indicate groups are not patterned by the ancestry trifecta. These findings illustrate the benefit and necessity of embracing studies that employ population structure models to better understand human variation and the historical factors that have influenced it.

Highlights

  • Forensic anthropology is a sub-discipline of biological anthropology, the science of studying what it means to be human via our biology

  • Forensic anthropologists are experts in human skeletal anatomy, growth, and development; expertise that we use in medicolegal death investigations for the recovery and analysis of human skeletal remains

  • A significant part of our analysis is the creation of the biological profile, an evaluation of four criteria that may assist with identification: age-at-death, sex, stature, and ancestry [1]

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Forensic anthropology is a sub-discipline of biological anthropology, the science of studying what it means to be human via our biology. Forensic anthropologists are experts in human skeletal anatomy, growth, and development; expertise that we use in medicolegal death investigations for the recovery and analysis of human skeletal remains. The estimation of ancestry is one of the most difficult (and controversial) parameters of the biological profile. It is often conflated with social race and ethnicity by medical examiners, law enforcement, forensic practitioners, and government agencies. In 1992 a name change from “race” to “ancestry” was proposed as a less loaded term [7] This has been rationalized by the notion that we can connect craniofacial morphology (i.e., size and shape variants of skull bone features) to social race categories (e.g., United States Census categories) [8,9]. Some biological anthropologists questioned the ethics of even estimating this parameter fearing that its continued use would endorse racist views and be complicit in the social injustices faced by underrepresented groups [2,10,11,12]

Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call