ANT 211
Fundamentals of Forensic Anthropology
with Dr. Albert 

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Answers and explanations appear in green, below the original question.

1. Which of the following is most consistent with a sex determination of male?

   1. Narrow epicondylar width

   2. Wide epicondylar width

   3. Wide sciatic notch

   4. Narrow bicondylar breadth

   5. Ventral arc

Answer B is correct.  Answer A is incorrect because males have a wider epicondylar width; Answer C is incorrect because males have a narrow sciatic notch; Answer D is incorrect because males have a wider bicondylar breadth; Answer E is incorrect because males do not have a ventral arc.

2. What is included in a forensic anthropologist's inventory?

   
   

   1. Types, model numbers of calipers used

   2. Products, materials used in the bone analysis

   3. All skeletal elements present for examination

   4. Chemicals used in the defleshing process

   5. A list of formulas used to calculate the probabilities of what sex and ancestry the unknown remains are likely to be

   Answer C is correct.  See Burns, p. 260

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3. Sharp superior orbital (or supraorbital) margins indicate:
    

   1. European ancestry

   2. Asian/Native American ancestry

   3. African American ancestry

   4. Female

   5. Male

Answer D is correct; this feature is indicative of sex not ancestry, and males have duller, thicker supraorbital margins

4. People of Asian and or Native American descent have a higher probability of having:

   1. Shovel-shaped incisors

   2. A Carabelli's cusp

   3. Squarish eye orbits

   4. A prominent nasal spine

   5. Taller crania

   Answer A is correct.  B = European descent; C = African descent; D = European descent; E = European descent.

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5. Which of the following best characterizes "race"?

   
   

   1. It is a cultural concept, not a biological reality.

   2. It is a biological reality, not a cultural concept.

   3. It is the most important component of the biological profile to establish.

   4. It can only be determined if you first know the sex of the individual.

   5. Race is the most important aspect of the biological profile to identify.

Answer A is correct because it is true.  All other choices are false.

6. Which of the following yields the most reliable sex determination?

   1. Subpubic angle

   2. Humeral head diameter

   3. Metacarpal length

   4. Cranial muscle markings

   5. Femoral curvature

Answer A is correct.  Answers B, C, and D are less reliable; and E is not a sex feature.

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7. In Maples, Chapter 5 "Flotsam and Jetsam", the cases center around:

   1. Disposing dead bodies in the ocean, lakes, rivers, etc.

   2. Gunshot deaths

   3. Decomposition variation on land versus water

   4. Dismemberments

   5. Problems with ancestry estimation

   Answer D is correct.  See Maples, Chapter 5.

    

8. Regarding skeletal features of indicative of ancestry, which of the following is true?

   1. Typically, not all of the features are consistent with only one ancestral population

   2. Estimating ancestry from the skull is so challenging that it is almost never attempted

   3. The best feature to examine is the eye orbit

   4. Sex should be determined first

   5. The vertebrae are considered the most reliable indicator of ancestry

Answer A is correct because of the wide range of normal human variation.  Answer B is false, ancestry is evaluated but with caution.  Answer choice C is false--several features are observed; there isn't just one that's best.  Answer D is not true, although sex may help in the determination of ancestry.  Answer E is false; research has shown no significant ancestry differences in the vertebrae.

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9. When skeletal traits indicate more than one likely ancestry, this is called:
    

   1. Dual population affinity

   2. Admixture

   3. Commingling

   4. Hybridization

   5. Multi-phenotypic display

Answer B is correct.  Answers A, C, D, and E are terms I made up.

10. Sex can be estimated from the proportions of the manubrium and gladiolus--two bones of the sternum.  What would indicate a typical female sternum?:

    1. A gladiolus (body) that is less than twice the length of the manubrium

    2. A gladiolus (body) that is more than twice the length of the manubrium

    3. A gladiolus (body) that is rounder than the manubrium

    4. A gladiolus (body) that is more rectangular than the manubrium

    5. A gladiolus (body) that is more porous than the manubrium

Answer A is correct.  The manubrium (top portion) and gladiolus (body) are more comparable in size in females than in males.  Answer B indicates a male.  Answers C, D, and E are not features that concern proportions, nor are they features of the sternum indicative of sex at all.

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