Susan Dale Spencer (Helfrich)

An unmarked grave in Manslick Road Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky, Burial 34, was excavated during a 2001 University of Louisville Field School. The grave contained numerous adult, infant, and fetal bones in an excellent state of preservation. Most adult bones consisted of extremities and exhibited signs of sawing, knife cuts, and drill holes. Some infant long bones had small perforations created by a needle-like object.The modification to specific elements was indicative of the medical practices of amputation, preparation of mounted medical school skeletons, and dissections. The grave contained a minimum number of individuals (MNI) of 16. In addition, there is evidence of a structural fire, based on the presence of charred bone and ash and burnt wood, hardware cloth, and plaster. Test-tube glass and a glass medicine bottle were among the material culture found. Artifact analysis and historical records suggest these materials were in a medical school fire between 1907 and 1910.

Kathryn Marlena Howard and Susan Dale Spencer
Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Studies, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville

Kathryn Howard’s great-grandmother, Sarah Marshall Brown (b. 1906, d. 1998), used the forepaws of a mole as an amulet to relieve pain during teething for her daughter, Cathryn Brown Howard (b. 1935, d. 2012). The mole forepaws were placed in a cloth pouch and worn around the child’s neck. The Brown-Howard family was from West Terre Haute, IN for as long as they can remember, but may have come from Germany via Kentucky. The mole feet may have been a novel tradition started by Sarah Marshall Brown, and there is no record of her siblings or other family members making mole feet amulets.
The mole feet have been curated over the years in a small cardboard watch box. The forepaws (23x19mm) are light tan in color with the claws remaining. The feet were most likely from an Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus) since the paws have fine hair instead of scales that would be typical of the Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata).
This represents the only case study of the custom of a mole’s feet amulet in Terre Haute, Indiana, but this custom appears to have also occurred in Southern Indiana. The use of mole’s feet as an amulet did occur in late 19th Century England where the amulet brought luck, relieved pain in teething, and relieved adult body cramps.

Spencer, S.D., Mahaney, R.A., Wells, A.C., 2013. Only Skin Deep?: Teaching Ancestry and Race in Forensic Anthropology. Poster presented at the Midwest Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology Association (BARFAA) meeting at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, November 9th.

“Race” as a legal identity in the United States is necessary to confront when working with forensic cases. Students in Spencer’s Forensic Anthropology courses at Indiana University (IU) and the University of Southern Indiana (USI) estimated race using both standard qualitative measures and FORDISC on human skulls. At IU, final case reports were coded for the student’s level of confidence in assigning race, whether or not they thought race could be measured, and whether they felt it should be measured for forensic identifications. Individual opinions on whether race could be measured and whether it should be used in forensic contexts differed significantly (Chi-square, p=0.04). This incongruence may be attributed to classroom dynamics, the structure of the assignment, or wider cultural discourses. At USI, the known age, sex and race of the skulls were revealed to students during a class designed to highlight methodological problems. USI students were surprised that neither the qualitative traits nor FORDISC had an accuracy above 65% (n=5/8) for skulls with known ancestries purchased from Bone Clones, Inc. The class was divided on whether race should be used in legal investigations with skeletal remains. Overall, students were comfortable estimating sex and age, while the estimation of ancestry/race presented a dilemma that was reflective both of recent debates within physical anthropology and wider cultural discourses.

Schild Site, Greene County, Illinois, has a Late Woodland (AD 750-1000) component characterized by moderate maize consumption and a maize dependent Mississippian (AD 1000-1200) component.  Bone density of the body of TV8 was measured using optical methods in 145 persons.  Bone density was controlled by body size by dividing percent bone by the
femoral length and expressed as thirds: low, medium and high. Bone fractures including vertebral wedging and spondylolysis were observed. Bone density and fracture frequency
were age-dependent. Individuals with low bone density displayed more fractures and a higher frequency of multiple fractures than did persons with high or moderate density values.
    An elderly woman (SB257) survived a femoral neck fracture.  Femoral neck fracture may be under-reported in paleopathology because signs of remodeling are subtle and the femoral
neck is frequently damaged or poorly preserved.  Decreased bone density in the maize-dependent Mississippian component at Schild contributes to increased risk of vertebral compression fracture.  We explore implications for health and well-being at the
agricultural transition.

"Authors: Jillian Utter (1), Ashley Christianson (2), Susan Dale Spencer (1)
ABSTRACT: Decorated headstones from two Evansville, Indiana, cemeteries were examined in order to understand the relationships between the living and the dead. This study specifically aimed to examine how the identity of the decedent affects whether their loved ones will continue to decorate their headstone after their death. Decorations left on headstones commonly included flowers, ceramic figurines, flags, letters, and decorative seasonal items. It is expected that the type and amount of decorations left on headstones will be dependent on the sex and life stage of the decedent. We expected that most loved ones would not continue to decorate headstones after 5 years since death. Online memorial web pages were used to understand the life and death of people with elaborately decorated headstones. This data elucidates the very active relationship the dead continue to share with the living."

A middle-aged female burial associated with the Caborn-Welborn phase (AD1400-1650) at the Leonard site in Posey County, Indiana, presented the unusual fusion of the left lateral incisor and canine of the mandible. The lateral incisor and canine have fused dentine and cementum with separate pulp chambers and separate root canals. Due to extreme dental attrition during her life, the morphology of the crown could not be described. Furthermore, we could not confidently determine whether the fusion was bilateral due to poor preservation of the facial skeleton and incomplete collection of the dentition. This anomaly is discussed in the context of the current medical literature regarding dental fusion. Differential diagnoses are presented and potential genetic and developmental etiologies were explored. Although fusion is relatively more common among people of Asian descent, we argue that this case of fusion may have been related to dental crowding and/or carious deciduous dentition that affected the development of the permanent tooth buds.

Authors: Brandon Baxter, Lora Bolton, Casey Coffey, Hayden Dayson, Whitley Draper, Aaron Durchholz, Scot Finney, Kathryn Howard, John-Thomas Norris, Susan Dale Spencer

Nine students in Human Osteology (ANTH 354) examined six crania from around the world for ten epigenetic traits (metopic suture, multiple supraorbital foramina, frontal grooves, post-bregma depression, button osteoma, one parietal foramen, two parietal foramina, lambdoid ossicles, and bridged hypoglossal canal). Disagreements regarding the scoring of traits ensued with the button osteoma and frontal grooves being the most difficult to score (33% agreement). Only the presence of the metopic suture was agreed upon. The biological relationships between the crania were drawn by counting the number of shared similarities. A cluster analysis was performed using a statistical program (PAST) and the results were compared. We found the discrete trait results to be in conflict with our expectations based on the general understanding of population histories from genetic data. This exercise demonstrated the pitfalls in using individuals with unknown histories in order to understand modern human clinal variation. These discrete traits appear to have limited usefulness in forensic applications. The mode of inheritance and the population distribution of these traits will be presented. However, more research is needed in order to understand the heritability of these traits.

Discrete trait analysis is often used in examining biological phylogenies, however it can be useful in showing similarities and differences among a set of specimens with known/expected and ambiguous/observed characteristics. We demonstrate the usefulness of cluster analysis in estimating the timing of cranial blunt force trauma among pre-Columbian Amerindian burials from Schild using the characteristics of expected patterns informed by celt wounds, rodent gnawing, subterranean breakage, as well as shovel and probe damage at the site. Cluster analysis is an exploratory technique for multivariate data that groups specimens based on shared similarity. Specimens that cluster together strengthen an argument for similar causality. Ten traits were analyzed using PAST software. Of the seventeen cases previously identified as perimortem trauma, nine grouped with non-violent causes. We recommend this method for exploring potential etiologies while establishing transparency in data interpretation.

Evidence for scalping and defleshing were found at a Late Mississippian cemetery (AD 1400-1650) at the Mann Site (12Po2) in Posey County, Indiana. A young adult male secondary burial (B.6) displayed numerous coarse cutmarks over the occipital and mastoid processes along with fine cutmarks over the right parietal indicative of mortuary defleshing. A young adult female burial (B.UNK) had two coarse cutmarks over the occipital suggestive of scalping. No other cutmarks were found on the postcranial skeletal elements of these two burials. Caborn-Welborn phase crania from the Hovey Lake
(n=1), Leonard (n=6), Murphy (n=15) and Mann (n=7) sites were
systematically examined for the presence of cutmarks, but no additional cutmarks were found. Other cases of scalping and defleshing in the Midwest
will be discussed.

Abstract: Hallux valgus (HV), bending of the big toe toward the others, is linked to footwear.Studies of Chinese and St. Heleners indicate that part-time wearing of shoes causes HV. Diagnostic criteria include bony changes on the first metatarsals, sesamoids and first proximal phalanges, and an halluccal angle greater than 16º. Of four individuals from 12 Po 2, one presented HV. This adult male bundle burial had embedded projectile points and cut marks on the skull. He may have participated in war parties, long distance trade and/or hunting more often than the others. Evidence for Eastern North American footwear will be reviewed.

ABSTRACT: The Utah Lake skull cap was published in 1935 by geologist George H. Hansen (1896-1981) at the height of enthusiasm for finding Neandertal features in Paleoindians. He emphasized dolichocrany, vault thickness, and brow ridge development in his description.  The skull was buried under nine inches of lake sediment, indicating to Hansen that it was from the Pleistocene and deposited during the time of Lake Bonneville. There is no obvious mineralization. The skull was dismissed by T. D. Stewart due to a lack of context. We revisit this specimen, comparing the limited metric data available from this calotte with other ancient and recent Amerindian crania. When the skull is compared with the Howell’s database, low-level probabilities (<0.15) of assignment to several African groups result, followed by Pacific and European groups. The Utah Lake is an old adult male that resembles other low-vaulted Amerindian crania in shape and supraorbital development. In the context of appropriate comparative material, the vault is not unusually thick. There are well-healed depression fractures on the outer table of the frontal, and the sagittal suture is both keeled and depressed, features remarked upon in other crania by Hrdlička. We report AMS dating and stable isotope analysis on this putative Paleoindian.

A prehistoric Amerindian male (45+ years) displays a coarse, porous lesion on the endocranial surface of the occipital in the region of the cruciate eminence and in the location of the sutura mendosa of a complete, undivided Inca bone. The sagittal and transverse venous sinuses are not marked, and the cruciate eminence is not well defined as a result of the lesion. The lesion measures 63mm transversely with a height of 25mm.  The endocranial surface of the cranium has poorly marked grooves for the meningeal vessels and has numerous small foramina. The internal table is thin. There is an unusual angulation at inion giving the occipital a constricted or pinched appearance (occipital angle=110°) that differs significantly from other Mississippian period males (n=25, mean=125°, SD=4.66, Z-score= -3.2). The nuchal plane is very flat, although the amount of cranial base flattening/platybasia could not be calculated since the anterior half of the cranium is missing. The lesion is not apparent on the ectocranial surface. No related lesions were observed on the postcranial skeleton. Differential diagnosis includes an anomaly associated with os Incae, cerebral atrophy, and arachnoid granulation.
Internal morphology of the Inca bone phenomenon is not well described in our literature. We address this problem by comparing this individual with other Mississippian crania expressing this variant.

A simple method for performing photographic superimposition was tested as a class exercise in L230 Forensic Anthropology taught by Susan Spencer. This method used digital photographs of students and an adult female skull and mandible from India with predominately Caucasoid features. These images were superimposed using Photoshop by positioning the skull image over the student image and adjusting its scale without changing its proportions. Printed superimposed images were 4”x 6”inches and in black and white. Students examined superimposed images of themselves in groups in order to encourage them to form their own opinions on the validity of this practice. Students marked aspects of the image that did not match in order to determine which ones could be eliminated as possible matches. Out of twenty-three images, all were eliminated as possible matches. Differences in facial proportions involving the teeth, nose and chin were the most commonly used. Problems regarding student bias and photographic distortion will be discussed. Although the students were initially critical of using a skull and photograph for positive identification, they later agreed that this method is useful in eliminating possible “missing” persons. These results further support the use of photographic superimposition in forensic identification.