Investigating Variation Among Arikara Crania Using Geometric Morphometry
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2000 Investigating Variation among Arikara Crania Using Geometric Morphometry Ashley H. McKeown University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation McKeown, Ashley H., "Investigating Variation among Arikara Crania Using Geometric Morphometry. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2000. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1382 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Ashley H. McKeown entitled "Investigating Variation among Arikara Crania Using Geometric Morphometry." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Anthropology. Lyle W. Konigsberg, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Richard Jantz, Andrew Kramer, Gary McCullough, William Bass Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Ashley H. McKeown entitled "Investigating Variation among Arikara Crania Using Geometric Morphometry." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofDoctor of Philosophy, with a major in Anthropology. We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Investigating Variation among Crania Arikara Using Geometric Morphometry A Di ss ertation Presented fo r the Doctor of Philosophy Degree TheUni versityof Tennessee, Knoxville Ashley H. McKeown December 2000 Copyright© AshleyH. McKeown, 2000 Allrights reserved ii DEDICATION I wishto dedicate thisdissertation to my husband, Todd M.� who been my cornerstone of supportand encoura gement, has and to my parents, Patrick and Carolyn McKeown, who raised me to believe I could accomplish any goal that I set for myself. I would al solike to rememberthe men and women who once lived along thebanks of the MissouriRi ver in South Dakota. You are notfo rgotten. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thankmy dissertation committee fo r theirassistan ce and input as well as their flexibilityas I labored tocomplete thiswork undera deadline. Dr. Lyle Konigsbergori ginallysparked my interest in the application of geometric morphometryto questions of population structure and morphological variation, interpretingmuch of the heavystati sticaljargon until I developed a working knowledge of the methods applied here. Dr. Richard Jantz showed great interest in this topic and spent many hours discussingthe import of my findings and results, always asking at least one question that forc ed me to go back and reevaluate my perspective. Andrew Dr. Kramerproposed several modificationsthat enha nced therendering of my results and synthesis of populationrelationships . Gary McCullough showed great interest in this Dr. research andprov ided valuable insight regardingthe meaning ofmy repeatabilitystud y. Not only do I appreciate the time Dr. William Bassinvested in this current wor� but I would alsolike to acknowledge the critical role he played in initiatinginterest in the skeletal biology of Plainspopulations among anthropologists, a tradition that has been handed down through the academic generations. The data collection, datamana gement and analysisphase s of this researchwere made much less complicated by the programming effortsof Drs. Lyle Konigsberg, RichardJantz, PatrickMcKeown and Stephen Ousley. I amindebted to each of them fo r their contributions and assistance. I would like to theUni versity of Tennessee Forensic Center, the WilliamM. thank Bass Endowment andthe University of Tennessee Offi ce of Research Development fo r IV the funds appropriated for the purchase ofMicroScribe the -3DX employedfo r data collectionin this research. Thistool made quick, efficient and highlyaccurate data collectionpossib le. I would also like to acknowledge Drs. Stephen Ousley and David Hunt of the Smithsonian Institution who enabled me to collect data in their facilities. Dr. Meadows Jantzhas been animportant individual during my graduate Lee education. As a colleague, mentor and friend, she has beensomeone with whom I could consultwithout trepidation and hasbeen crucial in shapingme as aresearcher and instructor. Konigsberg, Jantz and Kramerhave alsobeen steadfast supporters Drs. RL throughoutmy graduate tenure providing me with teaching and research opportunities that have greatly enhanced my preparation for 'the real world.' My parents, Patrickand Carolyn McKeown, and mybrother, Christopher McKeown, have provided me with encouragement throughout my graduate careeras only a fam ily can. One of the most importantthings my fam ily ever did was to impressupon me the knowledge that I could do whateverI wantedto do, I was willing to work if hard. Then they did everything in theirpower to help me realizemy goals. I thankthem fo r their unwavering support through the years. I cannot forget to thank my husband,Todd Ahlman, for his support and encouragementthroughout the production of this dissertation. He assumed many responsibilities sothat could I focus my time and effort onthe completion of this work, and his encouragement kept me going even when things pearedap bleak. He edited text and served as my archaeological consultant. I owe him a deep debt of gratitude. v ABSTRACT Geometric morphometry hasseen minimal application in studies of biological variabilityamong subpopulations of humans. However, as landmarkcoordinates are highly effective fo r capturing informationregarding andsize shape variation, the tools of geometricmorphometry are appropriate for investigatingsuch questions. This research utilizes landmark coordinate data to quantifymorphological variation amongArikara craniato evaluatethe biologicalrelationships between skeletal samples from late prehistoric, protohistoric and historic sites. These samples are derived from well documentedarcha eological contexts, and the presence of biological variability among them hasbeen reported in previous studies. These factors make these samples appropriate fo r assessing the utilityof geometric morphometry for investigatingvariation among subpopulations separated by time and space. Forty cranial landmarks were recordedby three-dimensional coordinates on crania from 18 components from Extended and Post-contactVariants of the Coalescent Traditionof the Middle Missouri Region in the Great Plains. The coordinates werefitted employing general Procrustes analysis and the residuals from this procedure were subjected to traditional statistical analyses. Additionally, consensus configurations were employed to generate thin-plate splinetransf ormation plots and comparative plots of Procrustes means depicting themorpho logical variation present among the various samples. This variation was interpreted inlight of the results from analyses of the residuals andthe knowntem poral, geographical and cultural contexts. VI Canonical analysisand multiple matrix correlation(Mante l) testsindicate that geographicdistance was the primary fa ctor structuring morphological variation among the samples. Additionally, a statistically insignificant temporal trend is observed in the morphological variation across the samples. Thisresearch demo nstrates the utilityof coordinate datafo r investigating biological variability andthe rela tionships among human subpopulations based on cranial morphology. By retaining the geometric relationships among the coordinates, the geometricmorphometric analyses of the configurations provide information about shape variation among all ofthe landmarks. While the nature of the variationdet ected inthis study is similarto previous studies, the coordinate data permits the graphical representation of morphological patternsthat allows for anappreciation of differences in landmark locations between configurations and a better understanding of morphological variation amongthese samples. VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Geometric Mo rphometry............................................... S Approaches.................................................................... 7 PertinentAppl ications of GeometricMorpho metry to AnthropologicalResearch ................................ 13 Chapter 3. ArikaraCulture Historyand BiologicalVaria bility.... 19 Archaeological Framework.......................................... 19 ArikaraCulture History............................................... 24 Variation in CranialMorpho logy amo ng the Arikara.. 28 Chapter 4. Materials...................................................................... 43 Sample......................................................................... 43 . S't1 e D escnp ti'ons ................................................