Evaluating residence patterns among prehistoric populations: clues from dental enamel composition.

We determined enamel composition (Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Mn, Se, Zn, Al, Sr, Pb) for the mandibular canines of 94 individuals from 4 prehistoric Arikara cemetery populations, collecting the compositional data using scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive x-ray analysis. We examined each of the four samples independently and then pooled them for a group comparison using correspondence analysis. The results indicate significant intrapopulational dispersal, particularly when viewed by age and sex subgroups. When all sites are included for correspondence analysis, a distinctive pattern of adult male dispersal compared to the more tightly clustered adult female and subadult subsample is apparent. We hypothesize that the observed pattern of dispersal indicates local geographic and possible dietary differences among the groups. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the observed differences between males, and females and subadults for each site are the result of a residence pattern of out-migration for males.

Identification by Identi-Kit composite from skull appearance. Combined efforts of the anthropologist, forensic pathologist, and criminal investigators.

It is always difficult to succeed in identifying skeletal remains unless one has good anthropological, dental, and investigative support. This case adds a new dimension, involving a law enforcement expert who was skilled with the use of the Identi-Kit. The picture of the victim, as developed by the Identi-Kit expert with the recommendation and support of the anthropologist, was shown on a television news program and was identified within 15 min of the show by a relative as the likeness of a missing 17-year-old black girl who was last seen months before. The combined expertise was instrumental in identifying a person who otherwise would have been recorded as another "Jane Doe."