Resumen de Beyond Taphonomy: Exploring Craniometric Variation Among Anatomical Material
Joseph T. Hefner, Brian F. Spatola, Nicholas V. Passalacqua, Timothy P. Gocha
Anatomical crania are occasionally encountered in forensic anthropology laboratories when that materi al is mistaken for forensically significant human remains. Using craniometric analyses and statistical measures of sample homogeneity, we determine whether anatomi- cal material can be described as a single, homogenous group or as a diverse mix of populations. Twenty-one interlandmark distances were collected from 85 anatomical preparations. Distance measures were calculated between all pairs using a pooled within-sample variance/covariance matrix and then subjected to a Defrise-Gussenhoven test between each paired distance to test whether each pair was drawn randomly from the same population. In the Defrise-Gussenhoven analysis, twenty-two percent (n = 66) of the 300 pairwise combinations were significant at the 0.05 level or below. The level of homogeneity suggests a majority of that material originated from the subcontinent of India or West Asia. Therefore, anatomical material can be viewed as a moderately homogenous group, but with a shared taphonomic history.
