Ancestry Estimation Kate Forsht
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School
North Carolina State University *
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Course
240
Subject
Linguistics
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
Pages
2
Uploaded by CaptainJaguarMaster934
Ancestry Estimation
For this assignment you will be using the
Hefner Ancestry Estimation spreadsheet
to estimate
the ancestry of the 2 different crania in the
Ancestry Estimation Crania images
file. Fill out the
following tables and report your results, then answer the following questions.
Cranium 1
(1 point)
:
Anterior
Nasal Spine
(1-3)
Inferior Nasal
Aperture
(1-5)
Interorbital
Breadth
(1-3)
Nasal
Aperture
Width
(1-3)
Nasal Bone
Contour
(0-4)
Post-Bregmat
ic Depression
(0-1)
2
5
1
2
1
0
Summed Score (in green in the spreadsheet)
1
What is the predicted ancestry according to Hefner’s spreadsheet?
Black
Cranium 2
(1 point)
:
Anterior
Nasal Spine
(1-3)
Inferior Nasal
Aperture
(1-5)
Interorbital
Breadth
(1-3)
Nasal
Aperture
Width
(1-3)
Nasal Bone
Contour
(0-4)
Post-Bregmat
ic Depression
(0-1)
3
1
3
1
2
1
Summed Score (in green in the spreadsheet):
1
What is the predicted ancestry according to Hefner’s spreadsheet?
Black
Post-Analysis:
1.
For the following questions (a-c), highlight one or the two options given. (3 points)
a.
Human biological variation is:
discrete (or) clinal
b.
Morphoscopic/nonmetric traits are scored:
discreetly (or) continuously
c.
The statistics used to estimate ancestry (both metric and nonmetric) assume that
ancestry groups are:
discrete (or) overlapping
2.
Based on your answers in Question 1, do our methods for estimating ancestry match what
we know about human variation and ancestry? (1 point)
Based on what we know, our methods do match estimating to what we know about human
variation and ancestry. Human variation is discrete and gradual, and traits are scored in specific
categories. Ancestry estimation normally overlaps.
3.
Hefner’s spreadsheet is used for ancestry estimation, but the labels he uses (“Black” and
“White”) are not ancestry labels—they’re social race labels. How does this misrepresent
human biological variation? (2 points)
This misrepresents human biology because biological ancestry is based on human DNA
and is influenced by genetic factors, while social labels are defined by historical contexts
and perceptions by their society. This oversimplification misrepresents how complex
human ancestry is.
4.
If you used Hefner’s spreadsheet and your unidentified decedent was Hispanic or Asian
American would you get an accurate result? Why might this be a problem? (2 points)
No this would not be an accurate result because the spreadsheet is designed to give simple
answers like “black” or “white.”
This overlooks complex ancestry, and will lead to
inaccurate results. As more and more people have interracial relations, this method will
become more and more out of date.
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