Vincent H. Stefan

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Lehman College and the Graduate School, City University of New York;

Faculty, New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology;

PhD, Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 2000.

Fields of Study

Human osteology and skeletal biology; forensic anthropology; paleoanthropology; quantitative methods; Rapa Nui (Easter Island) skeletal biology; Polynesian skeletal biology.

Current Research Interests

My basic interest is in documentation and analysis of contemporary and prehistoric human skeletal variation. This interest in biological anthropology has led me to study fossil, prehistoric, and contemporary human remains, and to apply this knowledge of human variation in the analysis of prehistoric human remains, as well as to cases of medicolegal significance (forensic cases). I have used my knowledge of human variation and population genetics to evaluate the origins and evolutionary prehistory of the Rapanui (Easter Islanders). Current projects include the continued analysis of the prehistoric Rapa Nui, Marquesans, and other Polynesian populations, incorporating both biological and ethnographic data. I have ongoing involvement in forensic anthropology, in the areas of research and as a consultant to the Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester County Medical Examiner offices, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Centre for International Forensic Assistance, Dept. of Forensic Medicine and Science, Glasgow, Scotland. In 2005 I earned the distinction of being certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (DABFA).

Selected Publications

• 2005 “Anthropological Reconstruction of Individual Death Histories from Skeletonized Human Remains: Symmetrical Fracturing of the Skull from Midline Contact Gunshot Wounds” [with co-authors T.W. Fenton, L.A. Wood and N.J. Sauer], Journal of Forensic Sciences 50:274-285. Published online 05 January 2005 – DOI: 10.1520/JFS2004198.
• 2004 “Assessing Intra-sample Variation: Analysis of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Museum Cranial Collections Example,”. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 124:45-58.
  Published online 11 August 2003 – DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10331.
• 2003 “Cranial Variation in the Marquesas Islands” [with co-author P.M. Chapman], American Journal of Physical Anthropology 121:319-331.
• 2003 “Coronal Cleft Vertebra Initially Suspected as an Abusive Fracture in an Infant” [with co-authors P.A. Aronica-Pollack and J. McLemore], Journal of Forensic Sciences 48:836-838.
• 2002 “Henderson Island Crania and their implications for Southeastern Polynesian Prehistory” [with co-authors S.L. Collins and M.I. Weisler], Journal of the Polynesian Society 111:371-383.
• 2001 "Origin and Evolution of the Rapanui of Easter Island," pp. 495-522 in Pacific 2000: Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Easter Island and the Pacific, C.M. Stevenson, G. Lee, and F.J. Morin, eds. Los Osos: Easter Island Foundation.
• 2001 "Cranial and Facial Form Descriptions and Comparisons of Several Polynesian and Peruvian Samples" [with co-authors C.M. Clow, G.W. Gill, and D.W. Owsley], pp. 437-446 in Pacific 2000: Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Easter Island and the Pacific, C.M. Stevenson, G. Lee, and F.J. Morin, eds. Los Osos: Easter Island Foundation.
• 2000 "The Skeletal Manifestation of Bear Scavenging" [with co-authors E.A. Carson and J.F. Powell], Journal of Forensic Sciences 45:515-526.
• 2000 "Analysis of Rapanui Cranial Collections: Museum Sample Variation," pp. 133-143 in Archaeology of Easter Island: Research on Early Rapa Nui Culture, C.M. Stevenson and W.S. Ayers, eds. Los Osos: Easter Island Foundation.
• 1999 "Craniometric Variation and Homogeneity in Prehistoric/Protohistoric Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Regional Populations," American Journal of Physical Anthropology 110:407-419.
• 1998 "La Quina 9 and Neandertal Mandibular Variability" [with co-author E. Trinkaus], Bulletin et MŽmoires de la SociŽtŽ d'Anthropologie de Paris, n.s., 10:293-324.
• 1998 "Discrete Trait and Dental Morphometric Affinities of the Tabun 2 Mandible" [with co-author E. Trinkaus], Journal of Human Evolution 34:443-468.
• 1998 "Craniometric Variability Among Prehistoric Easter Island Regional Populations and Their Discrimination [with co-authors G.W. Gill and D.W. Owsley], pp. 151-155 in Easter Island in Pacific Context South Seas Symposium: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Easter Island and East Polynesia, C.M. Stevenson, G. Lee, and F.J. Morin, eds. The Easter Island Foundation Occasional Papers 4. Los Osos: Easter Island Foundation.

PhD Program in Anthropology - The CUNY Graduate Center
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This departmental publication supplements the official Bulletin of The Graduate School as well as the current Graduate Center Student Handbook and "Announcement of Courses."