Morphological variation of the late Precontact and Contact Period Guale

Mark C Griffin, Purdue University

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to estimate biological distances among a time-successive series of Native American skeletal samples from the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coastal region (Georgia and Florida) using dental and cranial morphological traits as the principal comparative features. Biological distance, in the sense used here, refers to a statistical expression of morphological similarity between populations which is derived from genetically controlled traits. The population distances are estimated here in order to (1) delineate the biological relationship between the three primary (Guale) skeletal samples, (2) explore the relationship between these three samples and other biologically or linguistically related groups, (3) compare all of these samples with biologically distinct and geographically distant populations, and (4) compare the five southeast Amerindian samples to Turner's Sinodont dental classification (Turner 1990). These comparisons are important because (1) no investigator has studied the biological relationships between Native American groups in this geographic area, (2) prior research has indicated that the Guale population samples used here underwent profound biological changes after European contact, but it is unclear the extent to which these changes represent in-migration of other populations, (3) it is unclear what the biological relationships are between the Guale and other Southeast Amerindian groups, and (4) it is unknown how Native American groups from the southeastern U.S, compare to Turner's Sinodont division of the Mongoloid dental classification because he has not included populations from this region in his analyses. The results of this study indicate that the Guale of the southeast U.S. were a particularly diverse group in terms of dental and cranial morphology. The degree of biological dissimilarity between some of the Guale samples cannot be fully explained in terms of genetic drift. Other mechanisms of biological change are suggested. In comparison to other Amerindian groups and Asian Sinodont population samples, the American southeast populations separate as a distinct group. Not unexpectedly, they are more similar to north Amerindian samples than to the Asian Sinodont samples.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Larsen, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Physical anthropology

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