Richard Jantz
Encyclopedia
Dr. Richard L. Jantz, Professor Emeritus served as the director of the Forensic Anthropology Center from 1998–2011 and is a retired professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses on forensic anthropology
, skeletal biology, dermatoglyphics
, anthropometry
, anthropological genetics, and human variation, as well as developing computerized databases in these areas which aid in anthropological research. The author of over a hundred journal articles and other publications, his research has helped lead and shape the field of physical
and forensic anthropology for many years.
. He attended a community college before attending Kansas University, where he took a class from noted anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 1962, a Master of Arts in Anthropology in 1964, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1970 all from the University of Kansas. He realized early on that his strengths lied in statistical analysis of measurements.
and anthropometric variation among Native American
populations, including an analysis of the work of Franz Boas
. In the early 1900s, Boas did a study showing the plasticity
of the human body
in response to environmental changes. Dr. Jantz conducted a reassessment of this work in 2002. This was the first time anyone had really critiqued Boas’ work for its validity. Specimens from Jantz’s research ranged from 10,000 years old to the 20th century. Through this research, Dr. Jantz discredited Boas’ original claims about considerable varied skeletal plasticity between Europe
an and America
n born children. Dr. Jantz found that there are very insignificant differences between European and American born children. He also found that there was no effect on the crania of these children from exposure to the environment in America. Dr. Richard Jantz’s work with this research project demonstrated that the arguments of Franz Boas were unsound, making them no longer valid to support future arguments of cranial morphology and their plasticity; though, like a lot of research, not all agree with these findings. His other research also includes looking at microevolutionary forces acting on Aleut
and Eskimo
populations of the Bering Sea
. This can be studied through anthropometrics. Databases are currently being developed and maintained for research purposes by Dr. Jantz for students and faculty. These databases include: Boas anthropometrics which include body measurements on 15,000 BP Native Americans and 2,000 BP Siberia
ns, Forensic-osteometric and other forensic data from 1,500 BP recent American skeleton
s, Heinz Brehme Dermatoglyphic Database which includes ridge-counts, pattern classifications on 50,000 BP people from most parts of the world, Plains osteometric cranial and postcranial morphometric data on 2,000 BP individuals from the Great Plains
region, the Great Basin
, the Southwest and Northwest.
Other recent research includes looking at mtDNA of three Arikara sites in South Dakota
that were occupied between AD 1600 and 1832. Analysis from this research shows similarities between these people and other Native American groups. This suggests an admixing of these groups in recent times. Another research project underway is the CT sexing project. This project’s goal is to improve the ability to estimate sex from cranial bones, because when the pelvis is not available the skull
is considered by most professionals to be the second best indicator of sex. Currently, the accuracy lies between 85-90% for traditional sexing methods using cranial bones. The CT sexing project strives to increase this accuracy using CT scans of modern skeletal remains from the William Bass Donated Collection. Using these specimens, Jantz has examined sexual dimorphism
in greater detail than what can be accomplished through external measurements and observations. This project is being funded by the National Institute of Justice
and is being jointly conducted by the department of Anthropology and the department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Jantz has also played a role in the scientific examination and legal challenge associated with the discovery of Kennewick Man
found in Washington on the Columbia River
in 1996 and radiocarbon dated to ca. 9,000 years old. Dr. Jantz was one of 8 anthropologists who sued the federal government to gain more access to Kennewick Man’s remains to study. Another project Jantz was involved with was the identification of crew from the confederate submarine Hunley found off the coast of South Carolina using skeletal data and existing archaeological records. This information was combined with genealogical data available about each soldier. Goals include determining the activities of the soldiers that took place onboard, the length of time they were on the submarine, and any injuries, malnutrition
, or illness
es they might have had. The crew’s skeletons were well preserved making it possible for scientists to do facial reconstructions to show what they might have looked like.
for his distinguished contributions of database and software development
to the field of biological anthropology
. He received the Research and Creative Achievement Award from the University of Tennessee
in 2003.
Forensic anthropology
Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased...
, skeletal biology, dermatoglyphics
Dermatoglyphics
Dermatoglyphics is the scientific study of fingerprints. The term was coined by Dr. Harold Cummins, the father of American fingerprint analysis, even though the process of fingerprint identification had already been in use for several hundred years. All primates have ridged skin...
, anthropometry
Anthropometry
Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual...
, anthropological genetics, and human variation, as well as developing computerized databases in these areas which aid in anthropological research. The author of over a hundred journal articles and other publications, his research has helped lead and shape the field of physical
Physical anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
and forensic anthropology for many years.
Background
Jantz spent his childhood and received his early education in a small town in central KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. He attended a community college before attending Kansas University, where he took a class from noted anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 1962, a Master of Arts in Anthropology in 1964, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1970 all from the University of Kansas. He realized early on that his strengths lied in statistical analysis of measurements.
Research
Some of Dr. Jantz’s more current research involves quantitative osteometricOsteometry
Osteometry is the study and measurement of human or animal skeleton, especially in an anthropological or archaeological context.In Archaeology it has been used to various ends in the subdisciplines of Zooarcaheology and Bioarchaeology....
and anthropometric variation among Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
populations, including an analysis of the work of Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
. In the early 1900s, Boas did a study showing the plasticity
Plasticity
Plasticity may refer to:Science* Plasticity , in physics and engineering, plasticity is the propensity of a material to undergo permanent deformation under load...
of the human body
Human body
The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
in response to environmental changes. Dr. Jantz conducted a reassessment of this work in 2002. This was the first time anyone had really critiqued Boas’ work for its validity. Specimens from Jantz’s research ranged from 10,000 years old to the 20th century. Through this research, Dr. Jantz discredited Boas’ original claims about considerable varied skeletal plasticity between Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n born children. Dr. Jantz found that there are very insignificant differences between European and American born children. He also found that there was no effect on the crania of these children from exposure to the environment in America. Dr. Richard Jantz’s work with this research project demonstrated that the arguments of Franz Boas were unsound, making them no longer valid to support future arguments of cranial morphology and their plasticity; though, like a lot of research, not all agree with these findings. His other research also includes looking at microevolutionary forces acting on Aleut
Aleut
Aleut people are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States and Kamchatka Krai, Russia.-Name:The name "Aleut" comes from the Aleut word allíthuh, meaning "community." A regional self-denomination is ', Unangan or Unanga, meaning "original people." The name Aleut was...
and Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
populations of the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
. This can be studied through anthropometrics. Databases are currently being developed and maintained for research purposes by Dr. Jantz for students and faculty. These databases include: Boas anthropometrics which include body measurements on 15,000 BP Native Americans and 2,000 BP Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
ns, Forensic-osteometric and other forensic data from 1,500 BP recent American skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s, Heinz Brehme Dermatoglyphic Database which includes ridge-counts, pattern classifications on 50,000 BP people from most parts of the world, Plains osteometric cranial and postcranial morphometric data on 2,000 BP individuals from the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
region, the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
, the Southwest and Northwest.
Other recent research includes looking at mtDNA of three Arikara sites in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
that were occupied between AD 1600 and 1832. Analysis from this research shows similarities between these people and other Native American groups. This suggests an admixing of these groups in recent times. Another research project underway is the CT sexing project. This project’s goal is to improve the ability to estimate sex from cranial bones, because when the pelvis is not available the skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
is considered by most professionals to be the second best indicator of sex. Currently, the accuracy lies between 85-90% for traditional sexing methods using cranial bones. The CT sexing project strives to increase this accuracy using CT scans of modern skeletal remains from the William Bass Donated Collection. Using these specimens, Jantz has examined sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
in greater detail than what can be accomplished through external measurements and observations. This project is being funded by the National Institute of Justice
National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics , Bureau of Justice Assistance , Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention , Office for Victims of Crime ,...
and is being jointly conducted by the department of Anthropology and the department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Jantz has also played a role in the scientific examination and legal challenge associated with the discovery of Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA, on July 28, 1996...
found in Washington on the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
in 1996 and radiocarbon dated to ca. 9,000 years old. Dr. Jantz was one of 8 anthropologists who sued the federal government to gain more access to Kennewick Man’s remains to study. Another project Jantz was involved with was the identification of crew from the confederate submarine Hunley found off the coast of South Carolina using skeletal data and existing archaeological records. This information was combined with genealogical data available about each soldier. Goals include determining the activities of the soldiers that took place onboard, the length of time they were on the submarine, and any injuries, malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
, or illness
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
es they might have had. The crew’s skeletons were well preserved making it possible for scientists to do facial reconstructions to show what they might have looked like.
Awards
Dr. Jantz was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
for his distinguished contributions of database and software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
to the field of biological anthropology
Biological anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
. He received the Research and Creative Achievement Award from the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
in 2003.
Major works
- FORDISC 3.0: Personal Computer Forensic Discriminant Functions. 2005. (S.D. Ousley and R.L. Jantz) University of Tennessee.
- Changing times, changing faces: Franz Boas’s immigrant study in modern perspective. 2003. (Richard L. Jantz and Corey S. Sparks) Amer. Anthrop. 105:333-337.
- The Anthropometric Legacy of Franz Boas. 2003. (Richard L. Jantz) Econ. Hum. Biol. 1/2:277-284.
- A Reassessment of Cranial Plasticity: Boas Revisited. 2002. (Corey S. Sparks and Richard L. Jantz) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 99:14636-14639.
- "Anthropometric Variation Among Bering Sea Natives" 2010. (Anne Justice, Rohina Rubicz, Geetha Chittoor, Richard L. Jantz, and M. H. Crawford) Human Biology 82.6.
Papers and publications
- Sex estimation in forensic anthropology: skull versus postcranial elements. 2011. (Katherine M. Spradley and Richard L. Jantz) Jour. Of Forens. Sci. 56:289-296.
- Why does head form change in children of immigrants? A reappraisal. 2010. (Michael H. Logan and Richard L. Jantz) Am. J. Hum. Biol. 22:702-707.
- A Bayesian approach age estimation in modern Americans from the calvicle. 2010. (Natalie Langley-Shirley and Richard L. Jantz) Jour. Of Forens. Sci. 55:571-583.
- Understanding race and human variation: why forensic anthropologists are good at identifying race. 2009. (Stephen Ousley, Richard L. Jantz, and Donna Freid) Am. J. of Phys. Anthropol. 139:68-76.
- Sexing and stature estimation criteria for Balkan populations. 2008. (R. Jantz, Erin H. Kimmerle, Jose P. Baraybar) Journal of Forensic Sciences 53:601-605.
- Anthropometry. In: Ubelaker DH, editor. 2006. (Richard L. Jantz) Handbook of North American Indians: Vol. 3. Environment, Origins and Population. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 777–788.
- A multivariate examination of Hexian calvaria. 2005. (Richard L. Jantz, James H. Kidder, and Arthur C. Durband) Anthrop. Sci. 113:147-154.
- Cranial Change in Americans. 2001. (Richard L. Jantz) J. For. Sci. 46: 784-787.
- Variation Among Early North American Crania. 2001. (Richard L. Jantz and Douglas W. Owsley) Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 114:146-155.
- Archaeological Politics and Public Interest in Paleoamerican Studies: Lessons from Gordon Creek Woman and Kennewick Man. 2001. (Richard L. Jantz and Douglas W. Owsley) Am. Antiq. 66:565-575.
- Secular Change in Craniofacial Morphology. 2000. (Richard L. Jantz and Lee M. Jantz) Am. J. Hum. Biol. 12:327-338.
- Databases for Paleo-American skeletal biology research. 1999. (Richard L. Jantz and Douglas W. Owsley) Who were the first Americans: proceedings of the 58th Annual Biology Colloquium, Oregon State University. pp. 79–96.
- Anthropometric variation among Sioux and the Assiniboine. 1999. (Richard L. Jantz and Daniel Wescott) Hum. Biol. 71:847-858.
- Directional and fluctuating asymmetry in the palmar interdigital ridge-counts. 1993. (Richard L. Jantz and Hugo Brehme) Anthrop. Anz. 51:59-67.
- Variation among North Amerindians: analysis of Boas’s anthropometric data. 1992. (Richard L. Jantz) Hum Biol. 64:435-461.
- Palm and sole interdigital ridge-count correlations. 1990. (Hugo Brehme and Richard L. Jantz) Z. Morph. Anthrop. 78:243-256.
- Statistical assessment of population variability: a methodological approach. 1990. (Patrick J. Key and Richard L. Jantz) Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 82:53-9.
- Long bone lengths and gestational age distributions of post-contact Arikara Indian perinatal infant skeletons. 1985. (Richard L. Jantz and Douglas W. Owsley) Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 68: 321-8.
- A comparison of dermatoglyphic methodologies in population studies. 1983. (Richard L. Jantz and V.P. Chopra) Amer. J. Phys. Anthrop. 60:61-67.
- On the epidermal pattern system of seven families with triplets of various zygosity patterns. 1982. (Richard L. Jantz and Hugo Brehme) Mitt. Anthrop. Ges Wien. 112:1-15.
- Craniometric variation in the northern and central Plains. 1981. (Richard L. Jantz, Douglas W. Owsley, and P. Willey) Plains Anthrop. 26:19-29.
- Race differences in the sex dimorphism of dermatoglyphic traits. 1979. (Richard L. Jantz and Ilse Schwidetzky) J. Hum. Evol. 8:773-776.
- The Redbird focus: cranial evidence in tribal identification. 1974. (Richard L. Jantz) Plains Anthrop. 19:5-13.
- The Leavenworth Site Cemetery: Archaeology and Physical Anthropology. 1971. (William M. Bass, David R. Evans, and Richard L. Jantz) 5:118-119.
- Palmar dermatoglyphics of the Peruvian cashinahua. 1970. (Richard L. Jantz, Francis E. Johnston, Kenneth M. Kensinger, and G.F. Walker) Hum Hered. 20:642-649.
External links
- http://fac.utk.edu/faculty.html
- http://web.utk.edu/~anthrop/research/variation.html
- http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/skeletal_research_collections.html
- http://web.utk.edu/~fac/
- http://web.utk.edu/~fac/fordisc.html
External links
- http://fac.utk.edu/faculty.html
- http://web.utk.edu/~anthrop/research/variation.html
- http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/skeletal_research_collections.html
- http://web.utk.edu/~fac/
- http://web.utk.edu/~fac/fordisc.html