Student Research Conference | Schedule

• Ashley Medlin | Spatial Distribution of Fishtail Points Found in South America
• Trey Lasater and Abby Reinhardt | On Going Geophysical Survey at Spring Lake
• Mara R. Stumpf, et al. | Analysis of Ballistic Fractures in Texas State Donated Skeletal Collection (TXSTDSC) Crania
• Sarah Grace Carter | Lucy Atkinson’s Notebooks 1915/16 – An Experimental Study in Historical Hand-sewing
• Sophia Kottke and Priscilla Inostroza | She’s All That: The Impact of Adult Female Density and Group Size on Feeding Behaviors in Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) Subgroups
• Elizabeth Moore | Cultural Heritage Management Plan: Big Bend National Park
• Kaylee Henderson | Talking Heads: What Head Jars Can Tell Us About the Nasca Culture
• Adeline Womack | How bones are affected by dancing en pointe
• Pidge Cheatham | The Forgotten TXST Disc Golf Course: Why was it overlooked, and why it should be rehabilitated

Dr. Elaine Chu | Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Title | Expanding the scope of subadult stature estimation

Abstract: 
Stature estimation of immature skeletal remains is one aspect of the biological profile that has been under-represented in the forensic anthropology literature1. Investigations into subadult stature estimation methods have been hampered by small samples of known skeletal remains and the challenge of capturing the relationship between skeletal measures and stature over ontogeny. Consequently, subadult stature estimation methods have been primarily regression based (i.e., mathematical), trained using longitudinal samples with homogenous demographics, have only used long bone lengths, and have restricted age ranges or age-specific equations for easier modeling (i.e., diaphyseal vs maximum measurements, nonlinearity).

The present study aims to address several of these challenges by 1) using a large, contemporary, cross-sectional sample of subadult skeletal remains, 2) generating regression models using both lengths and breadths, and 3) utilizing both linear and nonlinear regression models to accommodate the nonlinear shape of long bone growth. The resulting models encapsulate the ontogenetic variation between skeletal measurements and stature and provide more options for subadult stature estimation that does not rely on the recovery of complete long bones or estimating age prior to stature estimation. These modifications better align stature estimation within the scope of forensic casework.