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Between 1978 and 1983 hominid skeletal remains were collected from the cave sites of Batadomba lena and Beli lena Kitulgala in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). These are the most ancient specimens of anatomically modern Homo sapiens found thus far in South Asia, radiocarbon dates placing them in the Upper Pleistocene. Morphometric analysis of the remains of some 38 individuals from the two sites indicates that these populations were characterized by medium stature, moderate to pronounced cranial and postcranial robusticity, medium-size permanent tooth crown measurements, prognathic alveolar facial proportions, and low incidence of osseous and dental pathological conditions. Comparisons of these ancient Sri Lankans with other prehistoric skeletal series from South Asia and elsewhere support the hypothesis that muscular-skeletal robusticity was a significant physical adaptation of earlier hunting-foraging populations. A trend towards reduction of sexual dimorphism and development of more gracile body form and smaller teeth appears to have accelerated with the socioeconomic transition to food-production strategies involving agriculture and pastoralism and refinement of technologies for food procurement and preparation, as documented by morphometric studies of later prehistoric inhabitants of South Asia.

Recent morphometric studies of ulnae of prehistoric skeletal remains from populations known to have used spears, atlatls, and similar projectile weapons for hunting and warfare reveal a high incidence of hypertrophy of the ulnar crest, to which the supinator muscle is attached, along with pronounced depth of the adjacent supinator fossa, especially in the upper extremities of males. Similar features occur in the right ulnae of living persons of both sexes who are habitually engaged in certain occupational and athletic activities involving angular displacement of the forearm as a result of medial rotation of the arm at the shoulder, shoulder and arm rapid extension, and abrupt shifts from forearm supination to pronation. Aside from its forensic science implications in determination of right- or left-handedness as a trait peculiar to the individual, observation of these markers of stress on the proximal end of the ulna are significant in identification of skeletal remains of persons known to have engaged in specific brachial activities during life. The hiomechanics of these movement patterns and activities in which they occur, when properly interpreted, are relevant to forensic science problems of individual identification and paleoanthropological studies of occupational stress factors in extinct populations for which a skeletal record is available.

In 1982 a fossil hominid calvaria was found in a middle Pleistocene deposit in the central Narmada valley of Madhya Pradesh, India, and was assigned to the new taxon Homo erectus narmadensis. Subsequently, morphometric studies of the specimen were conducted by two separate research teams from France and the United States, both in collaboration with Indian colleagues. Results of the most recent study, which includes morphometric and comparative investigations, lead to the conclusion that "Narmada Man" is appropriately identified as Homo sapiens. While the calvaria shares some anatomical features with Asian Homo erectus specimens, it exhibits a broader suite of morphological and mensural characteristics suggesting affinities with early Homo sapiens fossils from Asia, Europe, and Africa as well as demonstrating that the Narmada calvaria possesses some unique anatomical features, perhaps because the specimen reflects the incoherent classificatory condition of the genus Homo.

Recovery of ancient DNA has become an increasingly important tool in elucidating the origins of past populations and their relationships. Unfortunately, many human skeletal remains do not contain original DNA amplifiable by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Amino-acid racemization has proven to be a useful predictor of ancient DNA results. We analyzed the relative levels of amino-acid preservation and racemization of human samples from two highland dry-cave sites in Sri Lanka, and found that amino-acid enantiomer ratios were inconsistent with successful authentic DNA recovery. A review of the literature reveals that these results are consistent with a global pattern of poor DNA preservation in the tropics.

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Personal identification of human skeletal remains altered by the heat of crematory furnaces in modern mortuaries may be complicated by the presence of more than a single individual in a sample. When identification of cremains of neonates and young children is required in legal disputes, as in cases where relatives suspect that a funeral establishment has presented them with the ashes of another individual, the forensic anthropologist may be consulted by their legal representative. Problems to be considered in personal identification of cremated bodies are (1) presence or absence of commingled remains in a sample; (2) identification of one or more individuals present. Methods used in sorting and identifying neonate, infant and pre-adolescent remains include reconstruction of stature in situations where long bone diaphyses are preserved, as this may provide evidence of age at time of death, and assessment of dental crown development of unerupted and erupted deciduous teeth also for age determination. These procedures were used in the case reported here concerning mortuary practices of a funeral home and a family claiming that they were presented with the cremains of an adult and not those of their 15-hour-old daughter.

Although the typological race concept is obsolete in present-day systematic biology and anthropology, the idea that human populations and individuals are classifiable into separate races (Blacks, Whites, Native Americans, etc.) persists in government census data and mass media sources as well as in the forensic sciences. Determination of ancestry is a critical component of the forensic anthropologist's methodology in identification of human remains. In training students in laboratory techniques of personal identification, the paradox of the scientific rejection of the race concept and its survival in medical-legal contexts needs to be addressed explicitly. Forensic anthropologists and their colleagues in other branches of biological anthropology are best able to determine the ancestral background of an individual when they are familiar with the geographical distributions and frequencies of phenotypic traits in modern populations. Their methodology does not necessitate a racial classification based upon nonconcordant characters in order to provide evidence for positive identification of individuals.