A good question!?

Question

Ok lets say Indiana Jones finds a skeletton burried somewhere... is there a scientific way to determine the ethnicity of the skelleton?

Answer 1

There is now but there wasn't anyway for them to know definitely then.  They would assume the skeleton was from the area it was found in.  Remember Indiana Jones was during the time of Hitler - the late 1930's & 1940's.  The new one is supposed to be about 18 years after the 3rd movie.

Now they use DNA, and there are certain characteristics of different ethnicities including the shape of the nose, cheekbones, jaw, and also the height & build of the skelton.  Southern Europeans, for example were shorter & huskier than the Scandinavians, etc.

Answer 2

Physical and/or forensic anthropologists can tell race, age and s*x, approximately, from skeletons today. They won't get it down exactly (save for the s*x, and even that is tough in pre-adolescent children) but they can get close, mostly, to one of the six races (Asian, European, African, Australian Aborigine, Native American, Pacific islander).

Answer 3

yes....through DNA