title: The anatomical diaspora: evidence of early American anatomical traditions in North Dakota.
abstract: The current focus in forensic anthropology on increasing scientific certainty in ancestry determination reinforces the need to examine the ancestry of skeletal remains used for osteology instruction. Human skeletal remains were discovered on the University of North Dakota campus in 2007. After recovery, the osteological examination resulted in a profile for a 33- to 46-year-old woman of African descent with stature ranging from 56.3 to 61.0 in. The pattern of postmortem damage indicated that the remains had been prepared for use as an anatomical teaching specimen. Review of the American history of anatomical teaching revealed a preference for Black subjects, which apparently extended to states like North Dakota despite extremely low resident populations of people of African descent. This study emphasizes the need to examine the ancestry of older teaching specimens that lack provenience, rather than assuming they are derived from typical (i.e., Indian) sources of anatomical material.
authors: Department of Anthropology, University of North Dakota, 236 Centennial Dr Stop 8374, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA. phoebe.stubblefield@und.nodak.edu
authors: Phoebe R
authors: PR
authors: Stubblefield
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education* / Q000266:history; D044383:Black People; D002048:Burial; D002508:Cephalometry; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009658:North Dakota; D054881:Sex Determination by Skeleton; D013663:Teaching / Q000266:history; D014495:Universities / Q000266:history; D001741:Black or African American