Bioarcheology
The application of 3D midfacial profiling in the identification of human skeletal remains.
Studies of human variation frequently use population differences in craniofacial morphology as an index of genetic relationships (Howells 1990, Hanihara 1996, Powell and Neves 1999). Traits such as nasal breadth, cheek height, and facial prognathism show marked population differences and measurements of these features using standard craniometric landmarks provide useful information on population affinities. Multivariate discriminant functions derived from such measurements have been shown to perform fairly well as tools for the identification skulls from people with recent European, African, and Asian ancestral affinities (Giles and Elliot 1962, Ousley and Jantz 1998). However, quantifying subtle differences in facial form requires specialized anthropometric instruments, such as subtense calipers and craniophores. Even with these tools, the landmark-based approach of traditional craniometric analyses captures only a limited amount of information about facial form.
Click here to read the rest of the paper. (PDF)
