An odontometric biodistance analysis of the Rong and the A'chik

Stough, Mary Ashley

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Author

Stough, Mary Ashley

Chair

Hemphill, Brian E.

Committee

Reuther, Joshua D.
Drown, Devin M.

Abstract

Little is known about the population history and genetic affinities of many of the tribal groups of northeastern India, including the Rong and the A'chik. Previous linguistic and genetic studies have suggested that these non-Hindu tribal groups may be descendants of East Asian immigrants. Due to the linguistic and genetic research, cultural differences between the groups, and geographic barriers it was hypothesized that members of these two tribal groups share a population history different from that of ethnic groups of other regions of the subcontinent. This study employs tooth size allocation analysis to test hypotheses concerning the origins of the Rong and the A'chik as well as the nature and extent of odontometric variation found among members of both tribes. The author took measurements of the mesiodistal and buccolingual dimensions of the permanent teeth among 166 A'chik and 185 Rong individuals. The author compared the aforementioned data with measurements obtained among 1,151 members of seven ethnic groups from other regions of South Asia. Group centroids from canonical variates analysis were plotted in three dimensions to assess patterns of similarities among samples. Canonical variates, from both sex-pooled and non-pooled analyses, identify the Rong and A'chik as possessing closer affinities to each other than to members of the other groups, thereby supporting the hypothesis of separate population origins from members of other South Asian ethnic groups. Overall, the results suggest the Rong and A'chik have a different geographic origin than, and little admixture with, the other population groups from elsewhere on the subcontinent.

Description

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Rationale -- 2.1 Genetic background -- 2.1.1 Genetic variation -- 2.1.2 Heritability -- 2.1.3 Gene flow -- 2.1.4 Genetic drift -- 2.1.5 Mutation -- 2.1.6 Natural selection -- 2.2 Dental anthropology -- 2.2.1 Dental development -- 2.2.2 Field theory and clone model -- 2.2.3 Mouse models -- 2.2.4 Dental genetic variance -- 2.2.5 Fluctuating asymmetry -- 2.2.6 Sexual dimorphism -- 2.3 Biodistance analysis -- 2.3.1 A history and overview of statistical approaches (dentition) -- 2.3.2 Tooth size apportionment. Chapter 3: History and ethnography -- 3.1 Population history -- 3.1.1 Background -- 3.1.2 Early population history of the subcontinent -- 3.1.3 Tibeto-Burman population history of the Northeast -- 3.2 The Rong -- 3.2.1 The People and habitation -- 3.2.2 Kinship and marriage systems -- 3.2.3 Language and religion -- 3.2.4 Economy -- 3.2.5 History of migration -- 3.2.6 Recent history -- 3.3 The A'chik -- 3.3.1 The people and habitation -- 3.3.2 Kinship and marriage systems -- 3.3.3 Language and religion -- 3.3.4 Economy -- 3.3.5 History of migration -- 3.3.6 Recent history. Chapter 4: Description of materials and methods -- 4.1 Materials -- 4.1.1 Exclusions -- 4.2 Methods -- 4.2.1 Data collection -- 4.3 Statistical analysis -- 4.3.1 Inter- and Intra-observer reliability -- 4.3.2 Odontometrics. Chapter 5: Results -- 5.1 Paired-samples t-test and antimeres -- 5.2 Descriptive statistics -- 5.3 EM estimation -- 5.4 Levene's test -- 5.5 Principal components analysis -- 5.6 MANOVA -- 5.7 Canonical variate analysis -- 5.8 Classification matrices -- 5.9 Correlation matrices. Chapter 6: Discussion -- 6.1 Sexual dimorphism -- 6.2 Dental correlations -- 6.3 Tooth size -- 6.4 Residence patterns and limitations -- 6.5 Genetic studies -- 6.6 Linguistic evidence -- 6.7 Rong and A'chik origins. Chapter 7: Conclusions -- 7.1 Future research -- Appendices -- Bibliography.

Date

2023-08

Type

Thesis

Collections

Anthropology