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The identification of biological race (ancestry) in skeletal material is an important aspect of forensic investigations. While techniques for race determination are well established for adult skeletons, identification of race in sub-adult specimens has not been widely addressed. The present study investigates racial differences in the mandibular morphology of sub-adult specimens using geometric morphometric analyses. One hundred and seventy-four mandibles from five morphologically distinct samples were digitized and subjected to general Procrustes analysis. Results showed significant morphological differences between the samples and obtained cross-validation results of over 70% accuracy in identification of unknown individuals using the complete mandible. It is suggested that these techniques could provide a method for the identification of race in sub-adult individuals.

Employing two case studies from different spheres of anthropological practice, we argue that a narrative approach provides productive analytical ground for the study of Western death. It has been argued that narratives are attempts to create a presence to what is absent and truth to what is imagined and forgotten. Inverting this thesis, in this paper, we investigate how narratives can create absence where there is presence and ignite imagination and speculation where there is truth. Arguing that death 'invites a story', we examine cases which are as much about creative orchestration of human ingenuity as of meaningful accounts of epistemological metalanguage .

Historical patterns such as migration and population isolation influence patterns of craniofacial morphology within Polynesia, and our results demonstrate that morphological diversity can evolve in populations isolated for a relatively short period of time.

Disarticulated human remains were recovered from a first-century fort ditch at Vindolanda on the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire. Ancient DNA analysis revealed the skeleton to be that of a male individual and forensic taphonomic analysis suggested a primary deposition of the body in a waterlogged environment with no obvious evidence of formal burial. Occurrences of disarticulated human remains outside a cemetery context are often overlooked in Roman bioarchaeology. This discovery adds to the growing body of literature regarding alternative funerary practice in the Empire, highlighting that the concept of burial and disposal of the dead is more complex than ancient historical sources suggest. Details of the DNA analysis are provided in the Supplementary Material available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X1900014X.