Sex and Ancestry Estimation Methods in Modern Filipino Crania

• NCJ Number: 306323
• Author(s): Matthew C. Go
• Date Published: 2020
• Length: 204 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2017-IJ-CX-0008
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This dissertation emphasizes methodological advancements in Filipino biological profile estimation, it highlights the diversity found in the Filipino population, and makes the case for forensic anthropology in and of the Philippines as a discourse worthy of more mainstream study.

Abstract

The author presents a study that explores methods of metric and nonmetric Asian sex and ancestry estimation that incorporate modern Filipino samples, specifically concentrating on the cranium and bolsters collaborative research capacities through the creation of a novel and internationally accessible Filipino reference collection from skeletons in the Philippines. For this study, the author explored three methods: the optimized summed scored attributes (OSSA) method for sex estimation; discriminant function analysis (DFA) via the Fordisc 3.1 (FD3) software for ancestry estimation; and multivariate probit regression (MPR) for ancestry estimation. The author used the OSSA method for sex estimation using five cranial traits. The results of the study, involving a large sample of documented crania from Japan and Thailand, indicated a general correct classification rate of 82 percent using all five traits, and 81 percent when excluding the mental eminence. The author next analyzed ancestry classification trends of the Filipino sample, using craniometric measurements and DFA via FD3. Results were not significantly altered when the author replaced the raw craniometric values with their shape variables. Finally, the author used MPR models to classify the ancestral affiliation of Filipino crania using morphoscopic traits, and the author noted no significant differences in classification trends or accuracy rates between complete crania and those with at least one missing variable.