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Walnut creek massacre: Identification and analysis
Author(s) -
Finnegan Michael
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330450340
Subject(s) - identification (biology) , white (mutation) , race (biology) , archaeology , metric (unit) , flood myth , demography , biology , evolutionary biology , geography , ecology , engineering , paleontology , sociology , genetics , operations management , gene
The purpose of this study is to add to our understanding of skeletal material from the American pioneer period. Eight White and two Negro skeletons were washed out of their graves during flood conditions of 1973, but the recovery and subsequent storage of this material permitted commingling, and identification of the individual skeletons had to be undertaken before the material could be analyzed. Variation in age, sex, race, metric, non‐metric traits and condition of the bone was considered prior to the analysis of the material. When these methods failed, ultra‐violet fluorescence of the material and the matching of individual bones with colour slides taken at the time of the excavation were employed. Identification of all bones for the ten skeletons was impossible. However, on the basis of non‐metric trait variation a father and son pairing is tentatively identified. Analysis of this material shows the early pioneer to have been a rather tall and robust individual displaying little bone pathology, but advanced pathology in the dental tissue and alveolar region. Historical records pertinent to this massacre validate the identification of sex, race, and age for these individuals.