Krista E. Latham

Human Skeletal Variation and Forensic Anthropology

Abstract Forensic anthropology, as a branch of human biology, is grounded in the study of human anatomical and physiological variability. However, because forensic practitioners use variability primarily to make predictions about unidentified individuals, we frequently forget the broader goals of anthropological research. Our experimental models and statistical tests are commonly subpar, with poor sampling strategies, overreliance on univariate and bivariate techniques, and an underappreciation of interactions. We should strive to clearly articulate the variance equations that underlie our work and return to basic hypothesis-testing techniques, which will help to inject more rigor into our studies of human skeletal variability. Forensic anthropologists are, at their core, human biologists: they study the nature and degree of variation in the human body. This focus on variability—as seen across the life span, between populations, and across evolutionary time—is distinctive and inherited from deep anthropological roots. Few scientific fields that are concerned with humans have made variability the central theme of their theoretical paradigms. For example, clinical medicine, psychiatry, and even anatomy have traditionally focused on “average” or modal expressions of traits as seen in western industrialized societies, only recently recognizing the importance of global variability in a way that was central to anthropological thought from the fields conception in the 19th century.

Digging, Dollars, and Drama: The Economics of Forensic Archeology and Migrant Exhumation

Forensic archeology employs a systematic approach to the recovery of human remains and associated evidentiary items. Employing archeological technique to the exhumation of human remains takes a substantial amount of planning and expertise. For exhumations of unidentified migrants, additional political and cultural factors must be considered. This chapter explores the efforts of university volunteers before, during, and after the large-scale exhumations that took place in 2013 and 2014 in Brooks County, TX, and places their work within a broader sociopolitical framework. It positions the forensic scientist within a complex set of interactions where they are both a commodity producer and consumer and therefore an actor in the political economy of forensic science in the Texas borderlands. Additionally, it introduces readers to the skills and planning required to conduct these complex exhumations while exploring unique outside factors like funding and media involvement that impact these exhumations.

Charting Future Directions

As work continues to identify and repatriate migrants, observations of the complexities of operating within the current system are just beginning to unravel the dynamic pathways articulating forensic science, global histories, and processes of culture. Forensic scientists must be mindful of the ways in which historically-driven political and economic contexts simultaneously shape, constrain, and enable their work. Scholars and practitioners are just beginning to visualize the ways in which thinking sociopolitically can influence the work of forensic scientists in the borderlands. At this point, there are more questions than answers. This final chapter in the volume, Sociopolitics of Migrant Death and Repatriation: Perspectives from Forensic Science, provides suggested directions for reflection for those working on migrant death issues in the borderlands. What enables volunteer forensic scientists to engage with humanitarian work? How does the presence, advocacy actions, and the attention of the forensic investigations impact local communities? How can media outlets be utilized to bring awareness to this crisis while not exploiting or sensationalizing the deaths? Finally, how can forensic scientists use their positions of authority to facilitate building of collaborative knowledge that involves multiply positioned stakeholders? It is through the development of a contextually rich, multi-faceted understanding of contemporary forensic scientific practice in which lessons can be learned to effectively navigate the sociopolitics of migrant death.

Using Elliptical Fourier Analysis to Interpret Complex Morphological Features in Global Populations

Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) can be used to describe complex skeletal features in ways that are remarkably similar to how analysts tend to see them with the naked eye. EFA disassembles the shape of a feature and distills it down to its basic subcomponents irrespective of variation in size. The analyst can then examine each subcomponent to determine how independent variables such as sex and ancestry affect the skeletal feature. Analysis of four cranial and pelvic features in a global sample of identified individuals illustrates the utility and application of EFA in forensic anthropology. These studies underscore the importance of environment and geography in human skeletal variation and the overwhelming preponderance of unexplained variability that is usually underestimated by osteologists.

Summary: The Future of Forensic Identification Methods From the Human Skeleton

Abstract This chapter serves as the summary for the book New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification. It emphasizes the current volumes focus on new developments within the field, which demonstrate the expanding role of forensic anthropology in personal identification. It summarizes each chapter and discusses how each contribution suits the larger vision of the book. From gross macroscopic to microscopic approaches to identification of the human body, it provides readers with an assortment of tools appropriate for use in multiple domestic and international contexts.

Applications of Stable Isotope Forensics for Geolocating Unidentified Human Remains From Past Conflict Situations and Large-Scale Humanitarian Efforts

Abstract The application of stable isotope analysis (SIA) to issues of medicolegal significance is a growing area within forensic science. One application of SIA, the provenancing (i.e., sourcing) of human remains, has emerged as a novel tool in forensic anthropology over the last decade. Most applications of SIA in forensic anthropology have focused on predicting a region of origin or antemortem travel history of an unidentified decedent. More recently, researchers have expanded these applications to aid in the identification of decedents from past wars and conflicts, victims of genocide, and undocumented border crossers. This chapter presents several case studies to demonstrate how SIA can be used as an identification tool for provenancing individuals who died in East Asia during the Vietnam and Korean wars, as well as suspected border crossers from the United States–Mexico border. While many technical challenges remain, SIA is a useful technique to aid in the identification of human remains from past conflicts and large-scale humanitarian efforts.

DNA recovery and analysis from skeletal material in modern forensic contexts

Abstract The generation of a DNA profile from skeletal remains is an important part of the identification process in both mass disaster and unidentified person cases. Since bones and teeth are often the only biological materials remaining after exposure to environmental conditions, intense heat, certain traumatic events and in cases where a significant amount of time has passed since the death of the individual, the ability to purify large quantities of informative DNA from these hard tissues would be beneficial. Since sampling the hard tissues for genetic analysis is a destructive process, it is important to understand those environmental and intrinsic factors that contribute to DNA preservation. This will serve as a brief introduction to these topics, since skeletal sampling strategies and molecular taphonomy have been discussed in depth elsewhere. Additionally advances in skeletal DNA extraction and analysis will be discussed. Currently there is great variation in the DNA isolation methods used by laboratories to purify DNA from the hard tissues; however, a standardized set of short tandem repeat (STR) loci is analyzed by many US laboratories to allow for comparisons across samples and jurisdictions. Recent advances have allowed for the generation of DNA profiles from smaller quantities of template DNA and have expanded the number of loci analyzed for greater discriminatory power and predictions regarding the geographic ancestry and phenotype of the individual. Finally, utilizing databases and expanding the number of comparison samples will be discussed in light of their role in the identification process.