DETERMINATION OF RACE OR ETHNIC AFFINITY

• Jurisdiction: Australia

Overview ....................................................................................................... [35.240]

Racial characteristics .................................................................................... [35.250]

Racial determination from the cranium and mandible.................................. [35.260]

The Caucasoid cranium and mandible ......................................................... [35.265]

The Australian Aboriginal cranium and mandible ......................................... [35.270]

The Mongoloid cranium and mandible ......................................................... [35.280]

The Negroid cranium and mandible ............................................................. [35.290]

The Polynesian cranium and mandible ........................................................ [35.300]

The Melanesian cranium and mandible ........................................................ [35.305]

Racial determination from the post-cranial skeleton .................................... [35.310]

Racial identification from the teeth ............................................................... [35.312]

Racial identification in juvenile bones........................................................... [35.315]

The determination of pre-contact or tribal Aboriginal statusXXXXX

Introduction ................................................................................................... [35.320]

The location and method of disposal ............................................................ [35.330]

Associated artefacts ...................................................................................... [35.360]

Skeletal and dental evidence ........................................................................ [35.370]

Other evidence .............................................................................................. [35.380]

[35.240] Overview

Australia is a multiracial society. In recent years, migrations of peoples from South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands have added considerably to the earlier blend of Caucasian and Australian Aboriginal that has inhabited the country since European settlement in 1788. In addition, the presence of small but significant numbers of Chinese, Indian, Melanesian and other minority groups (eg African) has converted Australia into a genetic melting pot. The possibility is ever increasing, therefore, that skeletal remains of forensic interest may be derived from any one of a large variety of ethnic groups and admixtures.

Unfortunately, the lack of study and knowledge of the effects of varying degrees of genetic admixture on the phenotypic expression of skeletal traits is making racial or ethnic allocation of unknown skeletal remains increasingly hazardous. Even the gross allocation of an unknown skeleton to one of the five major racial types - Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, Australoid and Polynesian - is occasionally no longer possible with any certainty.

Australian Aboriginals have inhabited and have been dying in this continent for more than 30,000 years. Their unmarked grave sites are scattered all over the continent and are likely to be accidentally uncovered at any time. In each Australian State, pre-contact Aboriginal remains are the subject of separate legislation which governs the management of Aboriginal relics (bones or artefacts): Donlon and Littleton (2010). At a skeletal investigation site of unknown origin, the need therefore exists initially to distinguish skeletal remains that may be the result of pre-contact or traditional Aboriginal burials from those of more recent origin, which may be the subject of possible coronial inquiry: Larnach and Macintosh (1967); Pounder (1984); Thorne and Ross (1986).

35.250] EXPERT EVIDENCE

[35.250] Racial characteristics

Although the view that humans may be categorised into clearcut subdivisions of racial groups is rejected by some anthropologists (Sauer, 1992; Lieberman et al, 2003), forensic anthropologists, when presented with a set of skeletal remains, are regularly asked to nominate the racial grouping to which the remains belong. The determination of racial or ethnic affinity directly from skeletal remains is based upon the following:

(1) Features or characteristics of the bones that are genetically inherited and found especially in the facial skeleton and cranium.
(2) Features of the bones that are the result of the customs (eg burial practices), beliefs and attitudes (culture) and environs (eg diet) of the people concerned. These influences may directly or indirectly affect the appearances, dispositions and associations of

...