Patrick Randolph-Quinney

DR Patrick  Randolph-Quinney joined the School of Anatomical Sciences at Wits in 2012. He is an experienced researcher and fieldworker with interests in the application of biological anthropology across differing historical timescales, from the Middle Pleistocene to present. His areas of interest include: forensic anthropology and archaeology; palaeoanthropology; prehistoric archaeology and bioarchaeology; geometric morphometric methods (GMM); and the application of statistics in the life sciences, forensic sciences, and evolutionary biology. He has over 20 years archaeological field experience, much at directorial or specialist level, in the recovery, identification and analysis of human skeletal remains and archaeological faunas. He is an experienced forensic caseworker in areas of forensic human identification and forensic anthropology, human/non-human bone identification, forensic cremain analysis, and forensic archaeology and body recovery – including archaeological search strategies for discovery and recovery of clandestine burials, and recovery from fatal fires. Research Interests 1. Forensic anthropology and archaeology. Forensic Human Identification, particualrly the analysis of population variation, sexual dimorphism and ancestry. Specialisation in the application of GMM and advanced biostatistics to human identification, and skeletal pathology and trauma analysis. Focus on understanding bone trauma using GMM, and biomechanical analysis of bone strength and competency using micro-CT, actualistic analyses and verifiable engineering approaches. Heavily focussed on understanding, quantifying, and replicating the effects of burning on bone from a morphological and microstructural perspective – from the early hominin use of fire, through funerary ritual and body disposal in archaeological and ethnographic contexts, to the recovery and analysis of cremains in fatal fire investigation, DVI and human identification scenarios. This research has palaeoanthropological, bioarchaeological and forensic implications. 2. Palaeoanthropology - the analysis of evolutionary morphologies from a systematic and functional perspective with emphasis placed on taxonomic and behavioural variation in Middle Pleistocene archaic hominins, and on the origins of modern human biological diversity. 3. Prehistoric and Bio-archaeology. Academic and contract work has concentrated on reconstruction of life-history and demography, funerary archaeology and deviancy in burial practice, population health, and response to disease and trauma. 4. Virtual anthropology and statistical analysis of shape - the use of landmark and volume data to investigate and quantify patterns of soft tissue and skeletal variation using Geometric Morphometrics (GMM) and other methods of shape quantification. Particular interest in application to forensic science, evolutionary systematics, sexual dimorphism in hominins, and patterns of human cranio-skeletal diversity. This includes visualisation, biomechanical analysis, and phenotypical characterization of cortical and trabecular bone micro-architecture as assessed by microcomputed tomography (micro-CT).