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Matthew C Go

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Scientific Analysis Directorate, Forensic Anthropologist

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Papers by Matthew C Go

Pioneers of color: A counternarrative of foundational figures in forensic anthropology’s history

Forensic Anthropology, 2024

Popular renditions on the history of forensic anthropology have traced the discipline’s roots bac... more Popular renditions on the history of forensic anthropology have traced the discipline’s roots back to early European anatomy and nineteenth to twentieth-century American research and applications to the legal system, often highlighting the works of
several recurring figures. These forebearers are overwhelmingly composed of white men to the exclusion of, as we argue here, pioneers of color. As a counter to prevailing Eurocentric narratives, we present the biographies of diverse contemporaries who were equally foundational to the field, including Black Americans, immigrants, and luminaries outside of the Western world. Common themes among their experiences involved discrimination, a lack of opportunities and recognition, and a biocultural and humanistic praxis that demonstrate modern discourses within the forensic anthropology community are not novel. Ultimately, this work shows that the historical foundations of forensic anthropology, in both the United States and globally, include a far more diverse cast of pioneers than what the prevailing literature suggests and should serve as a springboard from which our discipline can grow, both in its past and in its future.

On WEIRD Anthropologists and Their White Skeletons

by Matthew C Go and Nandar Yukyi

Forensic Anthropology, 2021

Most forensic anthropologists and the populations they study are WEIRD-that is, Western, educated... more Most forensic anthropologists and the populations they study are WEIRD-that is, Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. In their interventions into the WEIRD, Clancy and Davis (2019) contend that WEIRD is a euphemism for white and that it is the white, Western European-derived scientists and subjects that skew the predominating narrative of the human condition. While they demonstrate how biological anthropology can decenter the WEIRD, it is fruitful to extend their framework specifically to forensic anthropology. We argue that the scientific enterprise of forensic anthropology is unique in that: (1) it is touted as an objective tool that must operate within medicolegal systems, (2) it involves board certification and accreditation standards, and (3) it holds ancestry and race as core to its practice. In a bibliometric survey of journal articles over the past five years (n = 793), we find that up to 79% of authors originate from WEIRD contexts. In articles specifically studying ancestry, European-derived populations are included 88% of the time as a category for comparison to other groups, while only 12% do not include Europeans. Furthermore, 49% of articles unrelated to ancestry use white subjects solely or in part, reinforcing a historic tendency to measure all human variation against one particular norm. We also find that WEIRD articles receive significantly more recognition than non-WEIRD counterparts. In this reflexive and positional exercise, we hope to make visible how whiteness as WEIRDness informs the history, values, and practices of forensic anthropology on a global scale.

The Korean War Identification Project: 30 Years of Expanding Scope and Complexity in the Accounting of American War Dead

WIREs Forensic Science, 2023

The Korean War claimed approximately 36,500 American service member casualties in its 3 years, of... more The Korean War claimed approximately 36,500 American service member casualties in its 3 years, of which nearly 7600 are still unaccounted for. The Korea 208 (K208) Project began in 2011 to more strategically address the highly commingled nature of 208 boxes of human remains that were repatriated from North Korea to the United Nations Command in the early 1990s and subsequently turned over to the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (now Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency [DPAA]) for analysis and identification. The K208 was further expanded by the recovery of remains from Joint Recovery Operations (JROs) in North Korea between 1996 and 2005, which revealed, among other issues, the presence of non-U.S. casualties and crossover of elements between these two assemblages. More recently, 55 boxes of human remains (known as the K55) were repatriated from North Korea in 2018 with many of the same commingling and assemblage crossover issues originally presented by the K208. Additionally, there has been an increased push to disinter more than 800 unknown Korean War service members buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as the Punchbowl) in Honolulu, which represent casualties recovered from both North and South Korea that had undergone prior analysis in the 1950s and 1960s. Subsequent examination has revealed that many Punchbowl remains are commingled despite being thought to have been originally buried as discrete individuals. Because of these developments, the K208 Project has grown in complexity and scope, thus changing its name to the Korean War Identification Project (KWIP) in 2017. Now under its purview are the original accessions from the K208 and JROs as well as the K55 and Punchbowl, representing the largest identification project within the DPAA. A robust and defensible identification process begins with an initial triage of the remains, followed by a systematic process of segregation, consolidation, and corroboration leading to identification. This unique case of highly commingled human remains, involving thousands of missing persons from varied proveniences, highlights the challenges and successes of a multi-disciplinary approach involving historians, anthropologists, odontologists, and DNA and isotope specialists at the forefront, while also working with family members towards resolution. As of December 31, 2020, the KWIP has identified a total of 591 service members and continues to seek ways to innovate and improve both the quantity and quality of its work.

Barriers to entry and success in forensic anthropology

American Anthropologist

Fire and fear: Rapid cremations in the Philippines amidst COVID-19

by Matthew C Go and Dada Docot

Forensic Science International: Synergy, 2021

Commentary on: Bethard JD, DiGangi EA. Letter to the Editor-Moving beyond a lost cause: Forensic anthropology ancestry estimates in the United States. J Forensic Sci. 2020;65(5):1791-2. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.14513.

Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2021

Morphoscopic ancestry estimates in Filipino crania using multivariate probit regression models

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2020

Objectives: Probit has not been applied to ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology. The goal... more Objectives: Probit has not been applied to ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology. The goals of this study were to: (1) evaluate the performance of probit analysis as a classification tool for ancestry estimation using ordinal data and (2) expand our current understanding of human cranial variation for an understudied population. Methods: Multivariate probit models were used to classify the ancestral affiliation of Filipino crania using morphoscopic traits. Ancestral reference populations represented Africa, Asia, and Europe in a three-group model, with the addition of Hispanics in a four-group model. Posterior probabilities across these groups were interpreted as admixture proportions of an individual. Model performance was also evaluated for individuals with missing data. Results: The overall correct classification rates for the three-group and four-group models were 72.1% and 68.6%, respectively. Filipinos classified as Asian 52.9% of the time using three ancestral reference groups and 48.6% using four groups. A large portion of Filipinos also classified as African. There were no significant differences in classification trends or accuracy rates between complete crania and crania with at least one missing variable. Conclusions: Multivariate probit models using morphoscopic traits perform well when populations are represented in both training and test samples. Probit can also accommodate individuals with missing data. Classifying Filipinos showed only moderate success. Filipinos are more phenotypically similar to Africans than the other Asian samples used here, but still affiliate most closely as Asian. Ancestry methods would benefit from including Filipinos as a reference sample given the additional variation they provide to the continental category of Asian.

Polarization of foliar reflectance: novel host plant cue for insect herbivores

Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2019

Insect herbivores exploit plant cues to discern host and non-host plants. Studies of visual plant... more Insect herbivores exploit plant cues to discern host and non-host plants. Studies of visual plant cues have focused on colour despite the inherent polarization sensitivity of insect photoreceptors and the information carried by polarization of foliar reflectance, most notably the degree of linear polarization (DoLP; 0-100%). The DoLP of foliar reflection was hypothesized to be a host plant cue for insects but was never experimentally tested. Here, we show that cabbage white butterflies, Pieris rapae (Pieridae), exploit the DoLP of foliar reflections to discriminate among plants. In experiments with paired digital plant images, P. rapae females preferred images of the host plant cabbage with a low DoLP (31%) characteristic of cabbage foliage over images of a non-host potato plant with a higher DoLP (50%). By reversing the DoLP of these images, we were able to shift the butterflies' preference for the cabbage host plant image to the potato non-host plant image, indicating that the DoLP had a greater effect on foraging decisions than the differential colour, intensity, or shape of the two plant images. Although previously not recognized, the DoLP of foliar reflection is an essential plant cue that may commonly be exploited by foraging insect herbivores.

Advances in forensic anthropological research in East and Southeast Asia

by Sean Dale Tallman and Matthew C Go

Forensic Anthropology, 2019

To introduce this special issue, we describe here some of the practical motivations for focusing ... more To introduce this special issue, we describe here some of the practical motivations for focusing on forensic anthropology in East and Southeast Asia. We also briefly discuss how forensic anthropology has grown in local contexts and how it has been applied in specific cases. Lastly, we provide
a table of Asian skeletal collections that, while arguably incomplete, we hope scholars and colleagues will find useful in their own research endeavors.

Forensic sciences and the Philippines' war on drugs

by Matthew C Go and Maria Corazon A De Ungria

Forensic Sciences International: Synergy, 2019

Classification Trends Among Modern Filipino Crania Using Fordisc 3.1

by Matthew C Go and Beatrix Dudzik

Forensic Anthropology, 2019

Filipinos represent a significant contemporary demographic group globally, yet they are underrepr... more Filipinos represent a significant contemporary demographic group globally, yet they are underrepresented in the forensic anthropological literature. Given the complex population history of the Philippines, it is important to ensure that traditional methods for assessing the biological profile are appropriate when applied to these peoples. Here we analyze the classification trends of a modern Filipino sample (n = 110) when using the Fordisc 3.1 (FD3) software. We hypothesize that Filipinos represent an admixed population drawn largely from Asian and marginally from European parental gene pools, such that FD3 will classify these individuals morphometrically into reference samples that reflect a range of European admixture, in quantities from small to large. Our results show the greatest classification into Asian reference groups (72.7%), followed by Hispanic (12.7%), Indigenous American (7.3%), African (4.5%), and European (2.7%) groups included in FD3. This general pattern did not change between males and females. Moreover, replacing the raw craniometric values with their shape variables did not significantly alter the trends already observed. These classification trends for Filipino crania provide useful information for casework interpretation in forensic laboratory practice. Our findings can help biological anthropologists to better understand the evolutionary, population historical, and statistical reasons for FD3-generated classifications. The results of our study indicate that ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology would benefit from population-focused research that gives consideration to histories of colonialism and periods of admixture.

An admixture approach to trihybrid ancestry variation in the Philippines with implications for forensic anthropology

by Matthew C Go and Beatrix Dudzik

Human Biology, 2018

In this study, we investigated, for the first time from a forensic anthropological perspective, t... more In this study, we investigated, for the first time from a forensic anthropological perspective, the question of mixed ancestry estimation for modern Filipinos with geographic origins in the Philippines. We derived estimates of continental ancestry using craniometrics from four sources: a new documented collection of current forensic significance from the Manila North Cemetery; the Howells cranial series representing a sample of unclaimed individuals from Manila but said largely to originate from more remote areas, with dates of death before 1940; the Hanihara sample aggregated from various locations and time periods across the Philippines; and the Hanihara series capturing various local indigenous, ethnic groups that are together identified as Philippine Negrito. Parental craniometrics were selected from the Howells data set and more recently collected samples from Europe and Asia. Using unsupervised clustering, we investigated the algorithmically defined three-cluster, or trihybrid admixture, model to infer continental ancestry for each individual, reporting their relative proportions of Asian, European, and African admixture. We used similar clustering procedures to identify more complex models, with a larger number of clusters, to explore patterns of affinity between our four Philippine samples and the recently acquired samples from Vietnam, Thailand, China (Hong Kong), Japan, and Korea. These analyses give insight into the relationships between both macro- and microgeographic regions, revealing at the country level how different population dynamics—whether political, economic, historical, and/or social—structure the ancestral makeup of Asian peoples, especially in the degree of European and African admixture. From these ancestry estimates, we found that population of origin explains 38–51% of the variation in each ancestry component, and we detected significant differences among the Asian samples in their quantities of ancestry. Filipinos appear considerably admixed, as they carry almost 20% less Asian ancestry than the average quantity (90%) estimated for the other Asian groups. We also revealed substructure within our representation of modern Filipinos, such that differences in the patterns of three-way admixture exist between each of the four Philippine samples; the Manila cemetery sample had the highest level of Asian ancestry, and, as we might expect, the Negrito sample had the greatest quantity of African ancestry. We performed additional analyses that introduced craniometrics from the Howells Australo-Melanesian series, to more fully investigate their relationship to the Asian samples and to better understand the African contributions common to the Philippine Negritos especially, as well as the other Southeast Asians and the Spanish and Portuguese groups. By mapping the cluster patterns on a global scale, these analyses reveal that, with craniometries just as with genetic loci, patterns of affinity are informative of the complex history of Southeast Asia, as they suggest vestiges of migration, trade, and colonialism, as well as more recent periods of isolation, marginalization, and occupation.

Appraising forensic anthropology in the Philippines: Current status and future directions

Forensic Science International, 2018

The increasing significance of forensic anthropology in the 21st century, yet unequitable worldwi... more The increasing significance of forensic anthropology in the 21st century, yet unequitable worldwide distribution of expertise, necessitates a stocktaking of the discipline on a local scale. The purpose of this work is to appraise the current state of forensic anthropology in the Philippines and provide the rationale for its further development within the country. Recent efforts in research, education, and legislation that seek to boost Philippine forensic anthropology specifically and forensic sciences generally are highlighted. Furthermore, this work hopes to serve as a springboard for future students, scholars, and practitioners seeking to advance the field in the Philippines.

A case of human bone modification by ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Philippines

Forensic Anthropology, 2018

Members of several insect orders are known to modify osseous vertebrate remains postmortem, wheth... more Members of several insect orders are known to modify osseous vertebrate remains postmortem, whether for nutritional or habitational purposes. Recognizing the appearance of these taphonomic traces is important in the evaluation of skeletal remains recov- ered from forensic and archaeological contexts. Thus far, ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) have only been anecdotally noted in the litera- ture to modify bone as a presumed food resource and have not yet been shown to modify human bone. This paper presents a contemporary case where a colony of ants was directly observed nesting inside human bone and describes the appearance of modi ed entrances into their repurposed medullary cavity dwellings. This case may prompt further considerations of ants as agents of bone modi cation, how and why such behaviors occur, and how to recognize these ichnological traces.

Application of the optimized summed scored attributes method to sex estimation in Asian crania

by Matthew C Go and Sean Dale Tallman

The optimized summed scored attributes (OSSA) method was recently introduced and validated for no... more The optimized summed scored attributes (OSSA) method was recently introduced and validated for nonmetric ancestry estimation between American Black and White individuals. The method proceeds by scoring, dichotomizing, and subsequently summing ordinal mor-phoscopic trait scores to maximize between-group differences. This study tests the applicability of the OSSA method for sex estimation using five cranial traits given the methodological similarities between classifying sex and ancestry. A large sample of documented crania from Japan and Thailand (n = 744 males, 320 females) are used to develop a heuristically selected OSSA sectioning point of ≤1 separating males and females. This sectioning point is validated using a holdout sample of Japanese, Thai, and Filipino (n = 178 males, 82 females) individuals. The results indicate a general correct classification rate of 82% using all five traits, and 81% when excluding the mental eminence. Designating an OSSA score of 2 as indeterminate is recommended.

A newly assembled human skeletal reference collection of modern and identified Filipinos

A collection of 75 modern skeletons from the Philippines has recently been created, and is being ... more A collection of 75 modern skeletons from the Philippines has recently been created, and is being housed at the Archaeological Studies Program of the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines. All individuals lived during the 20th century, and almost all died within the 21st century. These individuals were accessioned from exhumed and abandoned tombs at the Manila North Cemetery, and most have documented age and sex from tombstone inscriptions. This paper describes the first season of recovery and the collection's current demographic composition, with the future addition of more individuals to the collection expected to follow. The Philippines has an immediate need for forensic resources given its large vulnerable population, widespread diaspora, and exposure to natural disasters. Having a collection of modern Filipinos available for study is critical to the advancement of forensic anthropology and skeletal biology, especially for this heavily understudied population and region of the world.

Diametrical diseases reflect evolutionary-genetic tradeoffs: Evidence from psychiatry, neurology, rheumatology, oncology and immunology

by Bernard Crespi and Matthew C Go

Tradeoffs centrally mediate the expression of human adaptations. We propose that tradeoffs also i... more Tradeoffs centrally mediate the expression of human adaptations. We propose that tradeoffs also influence the prevalence and forms of human maladaptation manifest in disease. By this logic, increased risk for one set of diseases commonly engenders decreased risk for another, diametric, set of diseases. We describe evidence for such diametric sets of diseases from epidemiological , genetic and molecular studies in four clinical domains: (i) psychiatry (autism vs psychotic-affective conditions), (ii) rheumatology (osteoarthritis vs osteoporosis), (iii) oncology and neurology (cancer vs neurodegenerative disorders) and (iv) immunology (autoimmunity vs infectious disease). Diametric disorders are important to recognize because genotypes or environmental factors that increase risk for one set of disorders protect from opposite disorders, thereby providing novel and direct insights into disease causes, prevention and therapy. Ascertaining the mechanisms that underlie disease-related tradeoffs should also indicate means of circumventing or alleviating them, and thus reducing the incidence and impacts of human disease in a more general way.

format_quoteIntroduction of the diametric model posits that human diseases often exhibit opposite patterns of risk and prevalence, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of disease linkages.format_quote