Forensic anthropologists assist law enforcement agencies and medical examiner's offices with investigations involving human remains, providing insight into trauma analysis, the establishment of postmortem interval, and the estimation of biological profile data. Ancestry is considered one of the more difficult aspects of the biological profile, due in large part to the complicated relationship between skeletal morphology and social constructs. The methods used to estimate ancestry rely on the correlation between skeletal morphology, geographic origin, and an individual's social race. While there is a well‐documented contemptible history associated with the development of ancestry estimation methods in biological anthropology, many of the more traditional, now antiquated, methods are still used in some laboratories. The push to improve the framework within which ancestry data are analyzed requires validation and reassessment for each method in addition to the development of novel approaches utilizing modern technological advances. An array of software programs designed to aid in ancestry estimation is available. These advances do not signal the end of ancestry‐related research. Indeed, several areas seemingly stagnated by tradition and time require further study through more than simply review and rarefaction. The future of ancestry estimation research centers on: (a) abandoning the trait list approach, (b) rejecting the three‐group model, (c) establishing larger and more representative reference data, (d) assessing the utility of mixed method models, and (e) developing new statistical approaches and updating current software tools. This article is categorized under: Forensic Anthropology > Ancestry Determination Forensic Medicine > Historical Perspectives Forensic Anthropology > Anthropology in Mass Disaster & War Crime Contexts

Ancestry estimation methods using macromorphoscopic (MMS) traits commonly focus exclusively on cranial morphology.The objective of this study was to demonstrate the value of postcranial MMS traits, highlighting a combined cranial/postcranial trait approach to ancestry estimation using quadratic discriminant function and a variety of machine learning classification models including artificial neural networks (aNN), random forest models, and support vector machine. Eight cranial and eleven postcranial MMS traits were collected from the Terry and Bass Skeletal Collections (American Black = 81; American White = 173). Our classification models using cranial and postcranial traits correctly classified 88-92% of the sample, improving classification accuracies by nearly fifteen percent over models relying exclusively on cranial data. These same results demonstrate the importance of a multivariate statistical framework incorporating cranial and postcranial data and the nearly unlimited potential of machine learning models to improve the accuracy of ancestry estimates over traditional methods of analysis. To facilitate implementation in casework, one of the more robust models (aNN) is incorporated into a web-based application, Combo-MaMD Analytical, to facilitate cranial and postcranial MMS traits analysis for ancestry estimation.

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Forensic anthropologists working with cases that vary in stages of decomposition are often required to process and macerate remains to complete a forensic analysis. Maceration techniques vary between laboratories, and procedures to facilitate maceration of fetal and perinatal remains are lacking in the literature. This descriptive case study evaluates the use of several maceration techniques for fetal and perinatal remains (n = 2), including cold-water bacterial maceration, hot-water enzymatic maceration, dehydration, and incubation. Dehydration is a new maceration technique previously unpublished. For each technique, the authors assessed ease of maceration, effect on bone quality, and utility for forensic casework and/or donated remains and found all techniques are easy to implement and do not greatly diminish bone quality. Previous research recommends hot-water enzymatic maceration for forensic casework, as it will not degrade DNA and can efficiently remove soft tissues. This case study corroborates this recommendation but finds that incubation may be preferred for fetal remains, as it is quicker and less labor intensive. However, cold-water maceration and dehydration are recommended for donated fetal remains. Cold-water maceration is low maintenance, minimally malodorous, and preferable for disarticulated teaching materials, since this technique avoids any heat-induced warping of fetal bones. Dehydration retains cartilaginous structures and allows for the preservation of articulated elements for comparative specimens in donated collections. By demonstrating several techniques for fetal and perinatal maceration, this case study serves as a starting point toward the creation of general guidelines for forensic anthropology practitioners.