Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Directed Research Project
First Advisor
Dr. Tal Simmons
Second Advisor
Dr. Baneshwar Singh
Third Advisor
Dr. Jenise Swall
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Filipa Simao
Abstract
The construction of the Hermes A. Kontos building in Richmond, Virginia, unearthed the East Marshall Street Well (EMSW), which contained a commingled assemblage of human remains dating to the mid-19th century. Of the approximately 50 individuals discovered, Smithsonian anthropologists estimated at least nine were juveniles. These individuals were victims of grave robbing, utilized for both dissection and amputation practice by the Medical College of Virginia. The anthropologists estimated most of the remains to be of African descent. With the exception of one juvenile, previous nuclear genetic research failed to re-associate the sub-adult remains into discrete individuals. This study aims to deepen the understanding of these juveniles’ life histories through mitochondrial DNA haplotyping and genotyping of autosomal, X-, and Y-STRs, and ancestry- and phenotypic informative SNPs.
In this study, 62 juvenile bones from the EMSW were re-samples. The control region of the mitochondrial genome was amplified and sequenced using Sanger sequencing approach. Mitochondrial haplotypes were obtained from 15 bones. Likelihood ratios (LR) were calculated using EMPOP haplotype frequencies to assess if bones belonged to the same maternal line. Remains that shared haplotypes were assessed anthropologically, and, as a result, two more juvenile individuals were re-associated. Twenty-one bones were analyzed using Next Generation Sequencing, which produced ancestry predictions for four bones and phenotype predictions for two bones. Results from mitochondrial DNA and SNP analyses reaffirmed that a majority of the EMSW remains are of African descent.
Little had been previously known about the juveniles recovered from the EMSW, and this study illuminated additional details.
Rights
© The Author(s)
Is Part Of
VCU Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects
Date of Submission
12-13-2024