Interesting Anthropology and Paleontology News

There is some interesting news relating to anthropology and evolution – over and above Darwinius masillae (which I will have a couple of posts about next week).

Facial Reconstructions

Facial reconstructions are frequently used in forensic anthropology. Occasionally, they crop up in bioarchaeology as well (I’m thinking of a British TV show – the name of which escapes me – that also did facial reconstructions in every episode). They are also used in paleoanthropology – mainly museum displays – to give people a sense of what our hominin ancestors may have looked like. I bring this up because the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has a display on the subject called Making Faces: The Art and Science of Forensic Facial Reconstruction. From the museums website:

Yale, Skull and Bones, and the Federal Government Sued By Geronimo’s Family

I t has long be rumored that the skull and some of the bones of Geronimo were in the possession of Skull and Bones. A letter uncovered by a Yale historian (more of that shortly) seems to confirm the rumor. Descendants of Geronimo are suing according to MSNBC:

Geronimo’s descendants have sued Skull and Bones — the secret society at Yale University linked to presidents and other powerful figures — claiming that its members stole the remains of the legendary Apache leader decades ago and have kept them ever since.
The federal lawsuit filed in Washington on Tuesday — the 100th anniversary of Geronimo’s death — also names the university and the federal government.

Introducing A Forensic Osteology Metabase

Kambiz has been busy. He is part of a team developing a new metabase devoted to forensic osteology. As Kambiz describes it:

Interesting Anthropology News

There are a number of interesting anthropology stories in the news today. My picks below the fold.

The Value of Forensic Anthropology

Although the person mentioned in this article is an archaeologist, this is an excellent example of forensic anthropology in action.

Forensic Anthropology in the News

I’m currently working on a couple of book reviews that I hope to have up later in the week. In the meantime, I stumbled across this interesting story concerning forensic anthropology. According to the report a humerus, radius, and ulna were found as construction workers were demolishing a house. From the article:

Searching the Manson Ranch: More Forensic Anthropology in the News

The LA Times has an interesting story about Charles Manson and Barker Ranch. From the LA Times:

Forensic Anthropology in the News

There are a couple of interesting news items relating to forensic anthropology. First, this short piece on Beth Murray and forensic anthropology in high schools.

Personology is for Crackpots

Steve has taken time off from getting the new blog ready to bring us news of some credulous reporting on CNN. The reporting concerns some new woo called “Personology” which seeks to determine personality based on various measures of the face and hair. Forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology are concerned with looking at skeletal variation through time and across space so research in these areas are relevant to the claims of personology. Before going further, let’s look at some of the claims of personology.