In 1992, Norm Sauer called for a language shift in which practitioners would move away from the socially loaded term “race” and replace it with the less provocative term “ancestry.” While many heeded ...the call and moved towards ancestry in their research and reports, the actual approach to research and analysis did not change. In response to this change, there was a large growth in ancestry estimation method development in the early decade of the 2000s. However, the practice of ancestry estimation did not adequately incorporate evolutionary theory in interpretation or trait selection and continued with little critical reflection. In the past decade, there has been an increase in ancestry validation methods with little critique of the “race” concept or discussion of modern human variation or reference samples. To advance, forensic anthropologists need to reckon with the practice of ancestry estimation as it is currently practiced. We are calling for another reform in the axiom focusing on evolutionary theory, population history, trait selection, and population‐level reference samples. The practice needs to abandon the terms ancestry and race completely and recalibrate to an analysis of population affinity. Population affinity is a statistical approach based on the underlying population structure that would allow the understanding of how microevolutionary forces act in concert with historical events (e.g., colonization, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, etc.) to shape modern human variation. This is not to be confused with geographic ancestry that all too often can be perceived as interchangeable with social race and as an affirmation of the biological concept of race. It is time to critically evaluate the social and scientific implications of the current practice of ancestry estimation, and re‐frame our approach to studying and analyzing modern human variation through a population structure approach.
This paper explores the current state of forensic anthropology in the United States as a distinct discipline. Forensic anthropology has become increasingly specialized and the need for strengthened ...professionalization is becoming paramount. This includes a need for clearly defined qualifications, training, standards of practice, certification processes, and ethical guidelines. Within this discussion, the concept of expertise is explored in relation to professionalization and practice, as both bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology have different areas of specialist knowledge, and therefore unique expertise. As working outside one’s area of expertise is an ethical violation, it is important for professional organizations to outline requisite qualifications, develop standards and best practice guidelines, and enforce robust preventive ethical codes in order to serve both their professional members and relevant stakeholders.
The concept of race has a complex history in the field of biological anthropology. Despite increased recognition of the racist origins of the discipline, there remains little agreement about what the ...concept means, how it is used, or how it is discussed. This study presents the results of a survey of biological anthropologists to investigate the relationship of biological anthropologists with race and ancestry. The survey focuses on the areas of research, public engagement, and teaching as related to these concepts. Results indicate that a large majority of biological anthropologists agree that race (as a social not biological concept) is separate from ancestry. The majority of respondents agreed that ancestry categories should be based on geography (e.g., Asian, European, and African), and more anthropologists thought the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” were inappropriate ancestry categories. While most respondents felt that discussions of these terms were not matters of “political correctness,” nearly a quarter of respondents suggested that concerns over the moral and ethical implications of research (e.g., photos, terminology, and ancestry) result in the silencing of anthropological research. Overwhelmingly, respondents felt that anthropologists have a responsibility to ensure the avoidance of misappropriation of their work by race science and by white nationalists/supremacists. Some differences in survey responses were found relating to respondents' subdiscipline, educational level, location, age, self-identified racial/ethnic categories, and gender. In regard to teaching, survey results indicate that these concepts are minimally covered in university classrooms. When taught, topics focus on the colonialist/racist history of anthropology, the presence of white privilege/supremacy, and racism. Based on the results of this survey, the authors argue for greater public engagement on these concepts, a standardized system of teaching race and ancestry, and a disciplinary conversation about practice and terminology. In this way, biological anthropologists can best place themselves to combat racism in a socially responsible way.
The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set ...into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of the world. However, the social, cultural, behavioral, and other factors surrounding health and lifestyle associated with the foraging-to-farming transition are vague, owing to an incomplete or poorly understood contextual archaeological record of living conditions. Bioarchaeological investigation of the extraordinary record of human remains and their context from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100–5950 cal BCE), a massive archaeological site in south-central Anatolia (Turkey), provides important perspectives on population dynamics, health outcomes, behavioral adaptations, interpersonal conflict, and a record of community resilience over the life of this single early farming settlement having the attributes of a protocity. Study of Çatalhöyük human biology reveals increasing costs to members of the settlement, including elevated exposure to disease and labor demands in response to community dependence on and production of domesticated plant carbohydrates, growing population size and density fueled by elevated fertility, and increasing stresses due to heightened workload and greater mobility required for caprine herding and other resource acquisition activities over the nearly 12 centuries of settlement occupation. These changes in life conditions foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide over the millennia following the abandonment of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, including health challenges, adaptive patterns, physical activity, and emerging social behaviors involving interpersonal violence.
This study tests the relationship between third molar impaction and its concomitant effect on age estimation methods. Data were collected on radiographs of males analyzed in the Defense POW/MIA ...Accounting Agency Laboratory (n = 114). Radiographs of skeletonized individuals were scored for dental development, and age was assigned based on the appropriate ancestry‐based method. Differences between identified age and estimated dental age were assessed to determine whether molar impaction affected root development and age estimations. Results indicate that impacted teeth tend to be underdeveloped and result in age estimates that are too low. While these results are of note to anthropologists and odontologists performing dental age estimates, more work is needed to explore the effect of impaction on development among a more diverse sample.
Because of the ubiquitous adaptability of our material culture, some human populations have occupied extreme environments that intensified selection on existing genomic variation. By 32,000 years ...ago, people were living in Arctic Beringia, and during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 28,000–18,000 y ago), they likely persisted in the Beringian refugium. Such high latitudes provide only very low levels of UV radiation, and can thereby lead to dangerously low levels of biosynthesized vitamin D. The physiological effects of vitamin D deficiency range from reduced dietary absorption of calcium to a compromised immune system and modified adipose tissue function. The ectodysplasin A receptor (EDAR) gene has a range of pleiotropic effects, including sweat gland density, incisor shoveling, and mammary gland ductal branching. The frequency of the human-specific EDAR V370A allele appears to be uniquely elevated in North and East Asian and New World populations due to a bout of positive selection likely to have occurred circa 20,000 y ago. The dental pleiotropic effects of this allele suggest an even higher occurrence among indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere before European colonization. We hypothesize that selection on EDAR V370A occurred in the Beringian refugium because it increases mammary ductal branching, and thereby may amplify the transfer of critical nutrients in vitamin D-deficient conditions to infants via mothers’ milk. This hypothesized selective context for EDAR V370A was likely intertwined with selection on the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster because it is known to modulate lipid profiles transmitted to milk from a vitamin D-rich diet high in omega-3 fatty acids.
ABSTRACT
Anecdotally, it has been suggested that undergraduate anthropology students are more interested in forensic anthropology than any other specialty but that forensic anthropologists are less ...desired as colleagues in academia due to the nature of their work. The goal of this project was to examine two related questions: Does having a forensic anthropologist, or an undergraduate concentration in forensic anthropology, increase the number of majors in anthropology programs? And are forensic anthropologists less likely to be hired for relevant biological anthropology academic positions? To address these questions, data from a number of sources were analyzed. Results found that academic programs with a forensic anthropology concentration had large increases in the overall number of anthropology majors and that programs with forensic anthropologists as faculty produced significantly more anthropology bachelor's degrees. These data are counter to the current national trend of declining anthropology degrees. For jobs in academia specifically desiring a forensic anthropologist, forensic anthropologists were hired in only 58 percent of postings. This study shows a reluctance to hire forensic anthropologists in academia despite their positive impact on the growth of anthropology programs; it also has implications for the education of future forensic anthropologists. forensic anthropology, academia, enrollment, career, hiring
RESUMEN
Anecdóticamente, se ha sugerido que estudiantes de pregrado en antropología están más interesados en antropología forense que en ninguna otra especialidad, pero que antropólogos forenses son menos deseados como colegas en la academia debido a la naturaleza de su trabajo. El objetivo de este proyecto fue examinar dos preguntas relacionadas: ¿Tener un antropólogo forense o una concentración en pregrado en antropología forense incrementa el número de especializaciones en los programas de antropología? Y, ¿es menos probable para antropólogos forenses ser contratados para posiciones académicas relevantes en antropología biológica? Para abordar estas preguntas, se analizaron los datos de varias fuentes. Los resultados encontraron que programas académicos con una concentración en antropología forense tenían incrementos altos en el número total de especializaciones en el pregrado de antropología y que programas con antropólogos forenses como profesores produjeron significativamente un mayor número de graduados del pregrado en antropología. Estos datos se oponen a la tendencia nacional actual de descenso en graduados en antropología. Para trabajos en academia específicamente deseando un antropólogo forense, antropólogos forenses fueron contratados sólo en un 58 porciento de las ofertas de trabajo. Este estudio muestra una renuencia a contratar antropólogos forenses en la academia a pesar de su impacto positivo en el crecimiento de los programas de antropología; también tiene implicaciones para la educación de futuros antropólogos forenses. antropología forense, academia, matrículas, carrera, contratación
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