Academic literature on the topic 'North American Craniology'

Cranial and post-cranial non-metric variants are used to examine 664 individuals from the Grasshopper Pueblo skeletal series. The pueblo was inhabited from the 12th to the 14th century A.D. A variety of statistical analyses are utilized to examine patterns of morphological variation which can be used to assess whether biological differences can be demonstrated on the basis of non-metric trait frequencies. All traits are examined for frequency of occurrence, and trait frequencies are then tested to determine if they vary by side of the body, sex, age, type of cranial deformation or association with one another. A series of skeletons are re-tested in order to test intra- and inter-observer reliability. A refined list of traits developed from these analyses is then used to examine trait frequency distributions among the three major room blocks at the site. The full battery of traits used in this study are found to be free of the effects of side of the body, sex, type of cranial deformation and associations with one another, but are affected slightly by age. Intra- and inter-rater reliability are low for this sample and battery of traits. The conclusion is that individuals from the Pueblo do not aggregate into groups which are distinguishable on the basis of non-metric traits.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 19, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Daniel Wescott. Includes bibliographical references.