The Use of Material Culture to Establish the Ethnic Identity of Victims in Genocide Investigations: A Validation Study from the American Southwest*

Abstract

Successful prosecution of genocide requires that the victims constitute one of four protected groups: national, religious, ethnic, or racial. Establishing victim identity in prior trials has relied on positive identification of decedents, been largely presumptive, or was based on untested methodology. This report details a validation study of one untested method: the use of material culture in establishing ethnic identity. Classes of clothing and personal effects were scored on 3,430 individuals of known Hispanic or White ancestry from autopsy records in New Mexico. Significant differences were seen in evidence of language, nationality, and religious affiliation between the two groups, as well as clothing types and currency. Predictive models used to estimate ethnic identity in random, blind subsets produced an overall accuracy of 81.5% and estimates of 61-98% in specific subsets. Results suggest material culture, when present, can provide reliable evidence of ethnic affinity in genocide investigations.

Postcranial Sex Estimation of Individuals Considered Hispanic

“…The 2010 U.S. Census defined Hispanic or Latino origin as “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race” . Although definitions of Hispanic used by various forensic anthropologists slightly differ , identifying an individual as Hispanic is important when creating a biological profile to aid with identification. With this growing population, it is crucial for forensic anthropologists to have population specific methods for the biological profile.…”

Absent and present: Biopolitics and the materiality of body counts on the US–Mexico border

“…Found migrant belongings carry the potential for identifying unknown remains, as when saint cards found with decedents establish individuals’ connections to particular communities in Mexico or Central America with unique matching patron saints (Komar and Lathrop, 2008; Reineke, 2013, 2016b). On the other end of the spectrum, identification cards found with decedents led investigators to assign identities to those individuals, ignoring the fact that so many undocumented people travel under assumed names and false identities (Sheridan, 2009; Vogt, 2018).…”

Navigating Identity: The Intersection of Social and Biological Identity from the World War II Battle of Tarawa

“…Moreover, material evidence can augment forensic investigations of identity (Anderson 2008;Birkby et al 2008;Komar 2003;Spradley and Gocha 2020) because it has the ability to move beyond physical identity, in terms of the biological human variation of remains, and toward other aspects of social identity (Fowler 2010;Hodder 2013). Specifically, personal artifacts can aid in establishing ethnicity (Birkby et al 2008;Komar and Lathrop 2008). Komar and Lathrop (2008), for example, demonstrate how differences in language, nationality, and religious affiliation may be determined through the examination of the personal items of autopsied individuals.…”

“…Specifically, personal artifacts can aid in establishing ethnicity (Birkby et al 2008; Komar and Lathrop 2008). Komar and Lathrop (2008), for example, demonstrate how differences in language, nationality, and religious affiliation may be determined through the examination of the personal items of autopsied individuals. Similarly, several human rights investigators have shown the importance of establishing identity, whether that is individual or group ethnic identity, for the purpose of demonstrating human rights violations through the presence or absence of material evidence (Djuric et al 2007; Ferllini 2007; Komar 2003).…”