1,578 research outputs found
Sex Determination Using Discriminant Function Analysis of Carpals from Maya Sites in Belize from Pre-Classic to Spanish Colonial Period
The sexing of human skeletal remains is important for identification and demographic purposes. It is made more difficult when elements such as the skull and pelvis are not recovered or are in too poor of a condition to assess. Previous studies have used carpal (wrist) bones of contemporary populations to assess the viability of these skeletal elements exhibiting sexual dimorphism, as these bones are small, compact elements that are usually recovered in good condition. This study evaluates the use of carpal bones recovered from an ancient Maya population from Belize to determine the biological sex of individuals. The study sample is part of the Maya Archaeological Skeletal Collection (MASC), which contains individuals from the sites of Lamanai, San Pedro, Altun Ha, and Marco Gonzalez and dates from the Late Maya Pre-Classic (400 BC-AD 250) to the Spanish Colonial period (AD 1521-1821). Multiple measurements were taken on 36 capitate, 34 lunate, 34 scaphoid, 27 trapezium, 24 hamate, 22 triquetral, 22 trapezoid, and 16 pisiform bones from several individuals. Discriminant function analysis was used to determine if sexual dimorphism is measurable in this population using these elements. Previous studies used populations with known identities, assessing individuals from crypts, graveyards, or medical collections from the last few centuries. This study varies from previous studies as it utilizes archaeological remains, making this study one of the first to evaluate non-contemporary remains with unknown sex. Results of this study demonstrate that this population exhibits sexual dimorphism and discriminant function analysis can be used to distinguish between two groups. This demonstrates that carpals could be used to help determine biological sex of archaeological populations as well as a tool to help with identification in forensic cases
The Dearth of z~10 Galaxies in all HST Legacy Fields -- The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr
We present an analysis of all prime HST legacy fields spanning >800 arcmin^2
for the search of z~10 galaxy candidates and the study of their UV luminosity
function (LF). In particular, we present new z~10 candidates selected from the
full Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) dataset. Despite the addition of these new
fields, we find a low abundance of z~10 candidates with only 9 reliable sources
identified in all prime HST datasets that include the HUDF09/12, the HUDF/XDF,
all the CANDELS fields, and now the HFF survey. Based on this comprehensive
search, we find that the UV luminosity function decreases by one order of
magnitude from z~8 to z~10 at all luminosities over a four magnitude range.
This also implies a decrease of the cosmic star-formation rate density by an
order of magnitude within 170 Myr from z~8 to z~10. We show that this
accelerated evolution compared to lower redshift can entirely be explained by
the fast build-up of the dark matter halo mass function at z>8. Consequently,
the predicted UV LFs from several models of galaxy formation are in good
agreement with this observed trend, even though the measured UV LF lies at the
low end of model predictions. In particular, the number of only 9 observed
candidate galaxies is lower, by ~50%, than predicted by galaxy evolution
models. The difference is generally still consistent within the Poisson and
cosmic variance uncertainties. However, essentially all models predict larger
numbers than observed. We discuss the implications of these results in light of
the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope mission, which is poised to find much
larger samples of z~10 galaxies as well as their progenitors at less than 400
Myr after the Big Bang.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, minor updates to match accepted versio
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