Student: Terry Ritzman
PhD student in Anthropology
MA Anthropology, Colorado State University (2005) BA Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1999)Approach: Physical Anthropology
Research Interests: Paleoanthropology, Craniofacial Growth and Development, Modern Human Origins
Dissertation Abstract
Committee: Gary Schwartz (Chair), Mark Spencer, William Kimbel
Temporal Lobe Size, Middle Cranial Fossa Morphology, and Facial Positioning in Primates
The middle cranial fossa houses the brain's temporal lobes and, due to constraints related to the axis of the orbits of the eyes (which, in part, constitutes the anterior cranial base) and the posterior aspect of the facial skeleton (which is also the anterior limit of the middle cranial fossa), is also thought to be a major determinant of the position of the facial skeleton relative to the neurocranium. This project tests two hypotheses: (1) that the anatomy of the temporal lobes is correlated with the morphology of the middle cranial fossa and (2) that the length of the middle cranial fossa modulates the degree of ventral rotation of the facial skeleton. These hypotheses will be tested using inter- and intraspecific samples of radiographs of primate crania.
Conference Papers/Published Articles
2008 T. Ritzman, B. Baker and G. Schwartz. A fine line: A comparison of methods for estimating ages of linear enamel hypoplasia formation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 135(3): 348–361.
2008 M. Glantz, B. Viola, P. Wrinn, T. Chikisheva, A. Derevianko, A. Krivoshapkin, U. Islamov, R. Suleimanov, and T.Ritzman. New hominid remains from Uzebekistan. Journal of Human Evolution 55(2): 223–237.
2008 M. Glantz, S. Athreya, and T. Ritzman. Is Central Asia the eastern outpost of the Neandertal range? A reassessment of the Teshik-Tash child. American Journal of Physical Anthropology (DOI 10.1002/ajpa.20897).
Scholarships/Awards
University Graduate Scholarship, Arizona State University, $1,350.
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Arizona State University, three-year award.
Greenacre Scholarship, Colorado Archaeological Society (Northern Colorado Chapter).