The usefulness of discrimination based on distances on human evolution

Abstract

The reconstruction of human history from the fossil record often runs up against incomplete or differential preservation of specimens. In anthropological studies a large number of variables are usually taken and missing values can be a problem. Here we analyze three population samples of extinct aborigines from Tierra del Fuego. The first sample, with sex and ethnic group known, is used to compare the step-wise discriminant analysis and the discriminant analysis based on distances. With the second sample a first approach to the assignation of poorly documented specimens in relation to sex or ethnic group is presented here by comparing the results from the two discriminant methods. A third sample of skulls with ethnic group and sex unknown is used to illustrate the advantages of distance-based discriminant analysis to solve the problem of allocating individuals when some values are missing.