MIGRATION AND MORPHOMETRICS
ANTH 501 / 690
THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
Instructor:
Contact information:
Benjamin Auerbach, Ph.D.
Office: 229 South Stadium Hall
Office hours: Wednesdays, 10:00 – 11:00 A.M., or by appointment
E-mail: [email protected]
Time:
Location:
Wednesdays, 5:45 – 8:30 P.M. (5:45 – 6:50, lecture; 7:00 – 8:30, discussion)
253 South Stadium Hall
Course description: This seminar explores the background, methods, and application of techniques for
the reconstruction of morphology from archaeological human skeletal remains. We will discuss the use
of morphological reconstruction in the context of human adaptation to environmental factors, migration,
and population history. This context is provided by the populating of and migrations within the
Americas, starting at the end of the Pleistocene.
The majority of the seminar discussion will be devoted to the methods for and utilization of estimating
human morphology from skeletal remains. For example, how does one evaluate the various methods that
are available for the estimation of stature from skeletons? Which should you use, and what problems
might you anticipate from applying your choice? We will relate these estimated dimensions to
evolutionary models and skeletal biology hypotheses that associate morphological variation with
environmental effects, namely those associated with climate, subsistence, and activity. You will be asked
to compare the merits of different sources of information that can be gleaned from the skeleton and from
their archaeological contexts throughout the course.
Course objectives: By the end of the course, you will
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•
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have developed a familiarity with the current state of research into human migration and variation
in the Americas, and the controversies associated with the proposed models;
understand the methods for determining a variety of morphological dimensions from human
skeletal remains;
acquire the awareness of why knowledge of morphology of the entire skeleton is useful for
addressing a variety of evolutionary, population history, and diversity questions.
Prerequisite: This course is open only to graduate students. Knowledge of human osteology is strongly
recommended. Students who have not taken human osteology may enroll in the course with permission
of the instructor.
Course structure: Weekly meetings will be split (roughly 45/55) into an informal lecture and
discussion. You will be assigned at least one topic, for which you will be responsible to select
appropriate peer-reviewed papers, and to create and deliver the weekly lecture (on PowerPoint). On
presentation days, you will be expected to lead discussion. At the end of the course, you will be expected
to write a synthetic paper described below.
Topic selection: You will be presented with the list of topics on the first weekly meeting, and will be
asked to submit a list of your top three choices to Dr. Auerbach via e-mail before the next week.
Topics will be assigned in the order in which they are received, in order of designated preference. If
all three submitted topics are already assigned, students will be contacted and requested to choose
from the remaining topics.
Topic paper choice: Papers considered “essential” are listed in the syllabus with each topic. You are
encouraged to read beyond this assigned literature, especially for your presentations. No later than
two weeks prior to your presentation, you are expected to meet with Dr. Auerbach to discuss your
topic and any questions you have. Should you find any peer-reviewed papers essential to your
discussion beyond those listed, please bring them to Dr. Auerbach’s attention, so they may be added
to the assigned reading.
Topic presentation: Lectures must be accomplished with the utilization of Microsoft PowerPoint, the
file for which will be submitted to the instructor no later than midnight of the day before your
presentation. Your presentation should be no longer than an hour and should cover three major
points: the theory (evolutionary, biomechanical, etc.) behind the method(s) you are describing, an
overview of the method(s), and the appropriate circumstances for the application of the method(s) in
an archaeological context. You are not expected to discuss all of the details of the peer-reviewed
papers you chose, but rather should focus on creating a coherent summary of the merits and
drawbacks they present. In other words, try not to spend the majority of your lecture focusing on the
minutiae of a single paper.
Course web site: This course will utilize the online.utk.edu Blackboard site for the dissemination of
course materials.
Seminar paper: In addition to the presentation of an assigned topic, all students will be responsible for a
synthetic paper at the end of the term. The due date will be announced at the beginning of the term; late
papers (due to extenuating circumstances) will not be accepted without prior permission of the instructor.
This paper must be between 20 and 25 pages, double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font (or its
equivalent) not including bibliography, tables or figures. The paper topic will be predicated on a scenario
presented at the beginning of the course.
Evaluation: Your grade for the course will be determined by your participation, presentation, and a final
paper. Grades are calculated as follows:
25% of final grade
Participation (informed participation during discussion sessions)
35% of final grade
Topic presentation
40% of final grade
Seminar paper
As this is a graduate course, the acquisition of knowledge and the fostering of productive discussion and
debate are deemed more important than grades. Participation will be assessed by your informed input
into the conversation for the majority (~10) of classes.
2 Tips for getting the most out of the course: The main goal of this course is to help you to develop your
argumentative skills based on the critical evaluation of published literature. Therefore, you are expected
not only to comprehend the morphometric methods available, but also be able to argue about their relative
merits using their theoretical foundations and practical application.
Be aware that this is a reading-intensive course, with over 100 pages of reading per week. You will also
be required to read a great amount of material prior to the start of the course (see below). Although you
are not required to write summaries of the papers you read for evaluation by the instructor, it would be
beneficial for you to do this for your own reference. You will encounter a variety of perspectives and
arguments in a short period of time, and it will be easy to become lost in the literature. Keeping a tabbed
binder to hold the papers from this course will also help you keep organized, and will make locating
papers easier for future reference.
Students with special needs: If you require accommodation because of special needs in learning, please
contact the Office of Disability Services at 2227 Dunford Hall (974-6087). Please also contact Dr.
Auerbach immediately via e-mail after you register with the Office of Disability Services. Arrangements
will be made to adjust exams to fit your needs.
Required texts: No textbooks are required reading for this course. You are, however, expected to keep
up with the requisite reading each week, and are encouraged to read beyond the assigned papers. Papers
and book chapters will be provided weekly to students as PDF files via Blackboard. Hard copies will also
be made available in the departmental main office.
You are expected to read the following prior to the first course meeting (copies will be made available to
enrolled students before winter break):
Buikstra, Jane E. 2006. History of research in skeletal biology. In (Douglas H Ubelaker, editor):
Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins and Population. Washington,
DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 504-523.
Erlandson, Jon M. 2002. Anatomically modern humans, maritime voyaging, and the Pleistocene
colonization of the Americas. In (Nina G Jablonski, editor): The First Americans: the Pleistocene
colonization of the New World. San Francisco, CA: California Academy of Sciences, pp. 59-92.
Greenberg, Joseph H, Christy G II Turner & Stephen L Zegura. 1986. The settlement of the
Americas: a comparison of the linguistic, dental, and genetic evidence. Current Anthropology
27:477-497. AND SUBSEQUENT COMMENTARY
Kemp, Brian M & Theodore G Schurr. in review. Ancient and modern genetic variation in the
Americas. In (Benjamin M Auerbach, editor): Human Variation in the Americas: the integration of
archaeology and biological anthropology. Occasional paper no. 38. Carbondale, IL: Center for
Archaeological Investigations.
Meltzer, David J. 2002. What do you do when no one's been there before? Thoughts on the
exploration and colonization of new lands. In (Nina G Jablonski, editor): The First Americans: the
Pleistocene colonization of the New World. San Francisco, CA: California Academy of Sciences,
pp. 27-58.
Newman, Marshall T. 1953. The application of ecological rules to the racial anthropology of the
aboriginal New World. American Anthropologist 55:311-327.
3 Ruff, Christopher B. 1994. Morphological adaptation to climate in modern and fossil hominids.
Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 37:65-107.
You are strongly encouraged to read the following before the first course meeting, especially to help
understand the current state of research into the genetic evidence for the origins and diversification of
indigenous populations from the Americas:
Andachi, Noboru, Ken-ichi Shinoda, Kazuo Umetsu & Hirofumi Matsumura. 2009.
Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Jomon skeletons from the Funadomari Site, Hokkaido, and its
implication for the origins of Native Americans. American Journal of Physcial Anthropology.
Gilbert, M Thomas P, Dennis L Jenkins, Anders Götherstrom, Nuria Naveran, Juan J Sanchez,
Michael Hofreiter, Philip Francis Thomsen, Jonas Binladen, Thomas FG Higham, Robert M
Yohe II, Robert Parr, Linda Scott Cummings, Eske Willerslev. 2008. DNA from pre-Clovis
human coprolites in Oregon, North America. Science 320:786-789.
Goebel, Ted, Michael R. Waters & Dennis H. O’Rourke. 2008. The late Pleistocene dispersal of
modern humans in the Americas. Science 319:1497-1502.
Karafet, Tatiana M, Stephen L Zegura & Michael F Hammer. 2006. Y chromosomes. In
(Douglas H Ubelaker, editor): Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins
and Population. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 831-839.
Merriwether, D Andrew. 2006. Mitochondrial DNA. In (Douglas H Ubelaker, editor): Handbook of
North American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins and Population. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution, pp. 817-830.
Stone, Annc C. 2006. Ancient DNA. (Douglas H Ubelaker, editor): Handbook of North American
Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins and Population. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution,
pp. 840-847.
…and are expected to read the following over the first two weeks of the course (copies of these will be
made available as well):
Powell, Joseph F. 2005. The First Americans: Race, Evolution, and the Origin of Native Americans.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Roberts, Derek F. 1978. Climate and Human Variability. Menlo Park, CA: Cummings Publishing
Company.
Students may also be interested in reading the following before the course:
Mann, Charles C. 2005. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. New York:
Knopf.
Course schedule: Please note that the course schedule is subject to change due to meetings and other
events throughout the term. For example, class will need to be cancelled on April 1st (due to the
American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting), and possibly on the 22nd of April
(for the American Association of Anatomists Annual Meeting).
7 January. Introduction to the course, models of New World human origins. See the list of readings
above for this session. Be sure to have read Buikstra (2006), Erlandson (2002), Greenberg et al. (1986),
Kemp & Schurr (in review), Meltzer (2002), Newman (1956), and Ruff (1994) before this class session,
4 as well as the supplementary genetics papers. You are encouraged to have at least surveyed the contents
of Powell’s 2005 monograph and to have read Robert’s 1978 book.
14 January. Introduction to allometry, biomechanics, and bone biology.
Burr, D B, Alexander G Robling & Charles H Turner. 2002. Effects of biomechanical stress on bones
in animals. Bone 30:781-786.
Selections from: Currey, John D. 2002. Bones: structure and mechanics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Selections from: McGowan, Christopher. 1999. A Practical Guide to Vertebrate Mechanics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ruff, Christopher B. 1992. Biomechanical analyses of archaeological human skeletal samples. In
(Shelly R Saunders and M Anne Katzenberg, editors): The Skeletal Biology of Past Peoples:
research methods. New York: Alan R. Liss, pp. 41-62.
Selections from: Schmidt-Nielsen, Knut. 1984. Scaling: Why is animal size so important? Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Turner, C H. 1998. Three rules for bone adaptation to mechanical stimuli. Bone 23:399-407.
21 January. Human migration and variation in the New World: craniometry.
González-José, Rolando, Maaria Cátira Bortolini, Fabríco R Santos & Sandro L Bonatto. 2008. The
peopling of America: craniofacial shape variation on a continental scale and its interpretation from
an interdisciplinary view. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 137:175-187.
Hubbe, Mark, Walter A Neves & Katerina Harvati. in review. The origin of Paleoamerican and
Amerindian morphological variation. In (Benjamin M Auerbach, editor): Human Variation in the
Americas: the integration of archaeology and biological anthropology. Occasional paper no. 38.
Carbondale, IL: Center for Archaeological Investigations.
Jantz, Richard L & Douglas W Owsley. 2001. Variation among early North American crania.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 114:146-155.
Jantz, Richard L & Douglas W Owsley. 2005. Circumpacific populations and the peopling of the
New World: evidence from cranial morphometrics. In (Robson Bonnichsen, Bradley T Lepper,
Dennis Stanford and Michael R Waters, editors): Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis. College
Station, TX: Center for the Study of the First Americans, pp. 267-275.
Neves, Walter Alves, Mark Hubbe & Luís Beethoven Piló. 2007. Early Holocene human skeletal
remains from Sumidouro Cave, Lagoa Santa, Brazil: history of discoveries, geological and
chronological context, and comparative cranial morphology. Journal of Human Evolution 52:16-30.
Powell, Joseph F & Walter Alves Neves. 1999. Craniofacial morphology of the first Americans:
pattern and process in the peopling of the New World. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 42:153188.
Sardi, Marina L, Fernando Ramírez Rozzi, Rolando González-José & Héctor M Pucciarelli. 2005.
South Amerindian craniofacial morphology: diversity and implications for Amerindian evolution.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 128:747-756.
5 28 January. Human migration and variation in the New World: dental nonmetric traits.
Durand, Kathy Roler, Meradeth Snow, David Glenn Smith & Stephen R. Durand. in review. Discrete
dental trait evidence of migration patterns in the northern Southwest. In (Benjamin M Auerbach,
editor): Human Variation in the Americas: the integration of archaeology and biological
anthropology. Occasional paper no. 38. Carbondale, IL: Center for Archaeological Investigations.
Nichol, Christian R. 1989. Complex segregation analysis of dental morphological variants. American
Journal of Physical Anthropology 78:37-59.
Powell, Joseph F. 1993. Dental evidence for the peopling of the New World: some methodological
considerations. Human Biology 65:799-819.
Turner, Christy G II. 1985. The dental search for Native American origins. In (Robert Kirk and
Emöke J E Szathmáry, editors): Out of Asia: peopling of the Americas and the Pacfic. Canberra:
The Journal of Pacific History, pp. 31-78.
4 February. Nasal index and cranial proportions.
Churchill, Steven E, Laura L Shackelford, J Nicole Georgi & Michael T Black. 2004. Morphological
variation and airflow dynamics in the human nose. American Journal of Human Biology 16:625638.
Guglielmino-Matessi, C R, P Gluckman & L L Cavalli-Sforza. 1979. Climate and the evolution of
skull metrics in man. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 50:549-564.
Hall, Roberta L, Diana Roy & David Boling. 2004. Pleistocene migration routes into the Americas:
human biological adaptations and environmental constraints. Evolutionary Anthropology 13:132144.
Sardi, Marina L, Paula S Novellino & Héctor M Pucciarelli. 2006. Craniofacial morphology in the
Argentine center-west: consequences of the transition to food production. American Journal of
Physical Anthropology 130:333-343.
Yokley, Todd R. 2009. Ecogeographic variation in human nasal passages. American Journal of
Physical Anthropology 138:11-22.
11 February. Ecogeographic clines and models.
James, Frances C. 1970. Geographic size variation in birds and its relationship to climate. Ecology
51:365-390.
Mayr, Ernst. 1956. Geographical character gradients and climactic adaptation. Evolution 10:105-108.
Ruff, Christopher B. 2002. Variation in human body size and shape. Annual Review of Anthropology
31:211-232.
Trinkaus, Erik. 1981. Neandertal limb proportions and cold adaptation. In (Christopher B Stringer,
editors): Aspects of Human Evolution. London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 187-224.
Weinstein, Karen J. 2005. Body proportions in ancient Andeans from high and low altitudes.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 128:569-585.
6 18 February. Body mass estimation.
Auerbach, Benjamin M & Christopher B Ruff. 2004. Human body mass estimation: a comparison of
"morphometric" and "mechanical" methods. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 125:331342.
Newman, Marshall T. 1960. Adaptations in the physique of American Aborigines to nutritional
factors. Human Biology 32:288-313.
Ruff, Christopher B, Markku Niskanen, Juho-Antti Junno & Paul Jamison. 2005. Body mass
prediction from stature and bi-iliac breadth in two high latitude populations, with application to
earlier higher latitude humans. Journal of Human Evolution 48:381-392.
25 February. Stature estimation.
Auerbach, Benjamin M & Christopher B Ruff. in press. Stature estimation formulae for indigenous
North American populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Danforth, Marie E. 1999. Coming up short: stature and nutrition among the ancient Maya of the
southern lowlands. In (Christine White, editors): Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet. Salt Lake City:
University of Utah Press, pp. 103-117.
Haviland, William A. 1967. Stature at Tikal, Guatemala: implications for ancient Maya demography
and social organization. American Antiquity 32:316-325.
Malina, Robert M, Henry A Selby, Peter H Buschang, Wendy L Aronson & Richard G Wilkinson.
1983. Adult stature and age at menarche in Zapotec-speaking communities in the Valley of Oaxaca,
Mexico, in a secular perspective. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 60:437-449.
Raxter, Michelle H, Benjamin M Auerbach & Christopher B Ruff. 2006. Revision of the Fully
technique for estimating statures. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130:374-384.
Raxter, Michelle H, Christopher B Ruff & Benjamin M Auerbach. 2007. Technical note: revised
Fully stature estimation technique. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133:817-818.
Sciulli, Paul W, Kim N Schneider & Michael C Mahaney. 1990. Stature estimation in prehistoric
Native Americans of Ohio. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 83:275-280.
4 March. Body proportions: brachial index, crural index, relative sitting height.
Holliday, Trenton W. 1999. Brachial and crural indices of European Late Upper Paleolithic and
Mesolithic humans. Journal of Human Evolution 36:549-566.
Jacobs, Kenneth H. 1985. Climate and the hominid postcranial skeleton in Wurm and Early Holocene
Europe. Current Anthropology 26:512-514.
Jantz, Richard L, David R Hunt, Anthony B Falsetti & P J Key. 1992. Variation among North
Amerindians: analysis of Boas's anthropometric data. Human Biology 64:435-461.
Jantz, Richard L. 2006. Anthropometry. In (Douglas H Ubelaker, editor): Handbook of North
American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins and Population. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution, pp. 777-788.
7 Malina, Robert M, M E Peña Reyes, Swee Kheng Tan, P H Bushang, B B Little & S Koziel. 2004.
Secular change in height, sitting height and leg length in rural Oaxaca, southern Mexico: 19682000. Annals of Human Biology 31:615-633.
Porter, AMW. 1999. Modern human, early modern human and Neanderthal limb proportions.
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 9:54-67.
Takamura, K, S Ohyama, T Yamada & N Ishinishi. 1988. Changes in body proportions of Japanese
medical students between 1961 and 1986. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 77:17-22.
11 March. Body breadth and body proportions, continued.
Ruff, Christopher B. 1991. Climate and body shape in hominid evolution. Journal of Human
Evolution 21:81-105.
Ruff, Christopher B. 2002. Variation in human body size and shape. Annual Review of Anthropology
31:211-232.
Temple, Daniel H, Benjamin M Auerbach, Masato Nakatsukasa, Paul W Sciulli & Clark Spencer
Larsen. 2008. Variation in limb proportions between Jomon foragers and Yayoi agriculturalists
from prehistoric Japan. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 137:164-174.
Weinstein, Karen J. 2007. Thoracic skeletal morphology and high-altitude hypoxia in Andean
prehistory. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 134:36-49.
18 March. SPRING BREAK.
25 March. Cross-sectional properties of the limbs.
O'Neill, Matthew C & Christopher B Ruff. 2004. Estimating human long bone cross-sectional
geometric properties: a comparison of noninvasive methods. Journal of Human Evolution 47:221235.
Ruff, Christopher B. 1999. Skeletal structure and behavioral patterns of prehistoric Great Basin
populations. In (Brian E Hemphill and Clark S Larsen, editors): Understanding Prehistoric
Lifeways in the Great Basin Wetlands: bioarchaeological reconstruction and interpretation. Salt
Lake City, UT: The University of Utah Press, pp. 290-320.
Ruff, Christopher B. 2006. Environmental influences on skeletal morphology. In (Douglas H
Ubelaker, editor): Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins and
Population. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 685-694.
Weiss, Elizabeth. 2003. The effects of rowing on humeral strength. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 121:293-302.
1 April. American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting. Class cancelled.
8 April. Robusticity.
Holliday, Trenton W. 2002. Body size and postcranial robusticity of European Upper Paleolithic
hominins. Journal of Human Evolution 43:513-528.
8 Pearson, Osbjorn M. 2000. Activity, climate, and postcranial robusticity: implications for modern
human origins and scenarios of adaptive change. Current Anthropology 41:569-607.
Ruff, Christopher B, Erik Trinkaus, Alan Walker & Clark S Larsen. 1993. Postcranial robusticity in
Homo, I: temporal trends and mechanical interpretation. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 91:21-53.
Stock, Jay T. 2006. Hunter-gatherer postcranial robusticity relative to patterns of mobility, climatic
adaptation, and selection for tissue economy. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131:194204.
Stock, Jay T & Susan K Pfeiffer. 2004. Long bone robusticity and subsistence behaviour among Later
Stone Age foragers of the forest and fynbos biomes of South Africa. Journal of Archaeological
Science 31:999-1013.
15 April. Asymmetry.
Auerbach, Benjamin M & Michelle H Raxter. 2008. Patterns of clavicular bilateral asymmetry in
relation to the humerus: variation among humans. Journal of Human Evolution 54:663-674.
Auerbach, Benjamin M & Christopher B Ruff. 2006. Limb bone bilateral asymmetry: variability and
commonality among modern humans. Journal of Human Evolution 50:203-218.
Lazenby, Richard A, David ML Cooper, Sarah Angus & Benedikt Hallgrímsson. 2008. Articular
constraint, handedness, and directional asymmetry in the human second metacarpal. Journal of
Human Evolution 54:875-885.
Ruff, Christopher B & Henry H Jones. 1981. Bilateral asymmetry in cortical bone of the humerus and
tibia - sex and age factors. Human Biology 53:69-86.
Steele, J., 2000. Handedness in past human populations: skeletal markers. Laterality 5, 193-220.
22 April. Geometric (3D) morphometrics and finite element analysis.
Harvati, Katerina & Timothy D Weaver. 2006. Human cranial anatomy and the differential
preservation of population history and climate signatures. The Anatomical Record 288A:12251233.
Richmond, Brian G, Barth W Wright, Ian Grosse, Paul C Dechow, Callum F Ross, Mark a Spencer,
& David S Strait. 2005. Finite element analysis in functional morphology. The Anatomical Record
283A:259-274.
Sardi, Marina L, Paula S Novellino & Héctor M Pucciarelli. 2006. Craniofacial morphology in the
Argentine center-west: consequences of the transition to food production. American Journal of
Physical Anthropology 130:333-343.
von Cramon-Taubadel, Noreen, Brenda C Frazier, Marta Mirazón Lahr. 2007. The problem of
assessing landmark error in geometric morphometrics: theory, methods, and modifications.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 134:24-35.
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