How do scientists determine the race of human bones?

Question

On a crime TV show, the scientists calculate that the bones of the victim are from a 5'3, 18-year-old, white female. What about the bones tells the scientists about the race of the victim? I would think you could calculate height, gender, or even the age of bones, but what about the bones tells them if the person is White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, etc.? If the person was of mixed descent, which is probably common, how does that affect the findings?

Answer 1

depends on how they find the body too i think

but you can get some racial features from reconstruction on the skull, face features,... DNA would help too

or it could just be a tv show and they made it up

Answer 2

There are some traits more common in some races than others. A good example is a feature called Shovel Tooth, which is a ridge on the back side of the incisors. This trait is most common in Native Americans, so when skeletal remains are found with this feature they are often classified as Native American unless there is other evidence to suggest otherwise.

It is important to remember that there is considerable gene flow in the human population so very few, if any, of these features should ever be considered an absolute. All they give you is the probability of an individuals racial background.

Answer 3

From what I remember, there are certain physical characteristics that are common among certain races (broad foreheads, projection of the fce, etc...)It is not an absolute science, but they can usually get pretty close.

Answer 4

The only thing I know of is by way of certain tooth characteristics that differ.

Along with what the person above me mentioned, there are also traits like the Carabelli Cusp of certain populations, most commonly found in those of European decent.