Study about Clavicles Published in Forensic Anthropology

Dr. Samantha Blatt, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and co-authors from the College of Western Idaho and University of New Hampshire published an article in the journal Forensic Anthropology (University of Florida Press), "Estimating Age of Mature Adults from Degeneration of the Medial End of the Clavicle in an African American Sample." The article is slated to appear in the next volume of the journal. The research examined the accuracy and appropriateness of a method developed to estimate the age of adults over the age of 40 from the topographic surface of their clavicles. In particular, the paper tests the method using a historic skeletal sample of African Americans. It is important to re-examine scientific methods for accuracy particularly when they can be applied to unidentified human skeletal remains from historic or forensic cases. This paper also involved undergraduate and graduate students from Boise State University.