Special Issue Editors: Heather Edgar and Marin Pilloud
Published: 2022-02-10
Introduction
A Reassessment of Assessing Race
“Ancestry” Estimation and Its Implications for Forensic Anthropology and Beyond
205–210
AbstractThe articles in this special issue grew from a symposium at the 2020 American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Scientific meeting, with the...
Research Articles
Assumed Differences; Unquestioned Typologies
The Oversimplification of Race and Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology
211–234
AbstractForensic anthropologists traditionally estimate “race” or “ancestry” as part of the biological profile. While practitioners may have changed the...
The (Mis)appropriation of Biological Anthropology in Race Science and the Implications for Forensic Anthropology
235–256
AbstractMost biological anthropologists acknowledge that phenotypic human variation is distinct from human race. However, there is the potential for the...
Terminology Used to Describe Human Variation in Forensic Anthropology
257–282
AbstractTo understand the implications of the forensic anthropological practice of “ancestry” estimation, we explore terminology that has been employed...
On WEIRD Anthropologists and Their White Skeletons
283–298
AbstractMost forensic anthropologists and the populations they study are WEIRD—that is, Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. In...
Testing the Homogeneity of “White”
Dental Morphology in Americans and Australians of European Descent
299–308
AbstractThe purpose of estimating each part of the biological profile is to reduce the number of missing persons for comparison with unknown human...
What Are We Really Estimating in Forensic Anthropological Practice, Population Affinity or Ancestry?
309–318
AbstractWhile American forensic anthropologists often state that they estimate ancestry, is that what they are really estimating? Although typological...
Self-Reported Ancestry and Craniofacial SNPs
Assessing Correspondence with Implications for Forensic Case Analysis and Reporting
319–329
AbstractGenotype-phenotype studies increasingly link single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) to the dimensions of the face for presumed homogeneous...
Ancestry Estimation in Practice
An Evaluation of Forensic Anthropology Reports in the United States
330–340
AbstractThe medicolegal system relies on forensic anthropologists to construct accurate biological profiles from skeletal remains
to narrow the pool...
Explanation of Ancestry Estimation in Forensic Anthropology Textbooks
Lessons for the Undergraduate Classroom
341–359
AbstractThe way we teach about race and racism can have profound impacts on undergraduate learners, both positive and negative. Textbooks represent a...