Professor Kanya GoddeChrisco Publishes Study on Ancient Sudanese Kinship

Moreno Valley College Assistant Professor of Anthropology Kanya GoddeChrisco, Ph.D., has co-authored a groundbreaking study analyzing burial patterns and kinship structures in a Late Meroitic to Medieval cemetery in Sudan. The research, published on March 19 in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, introduces machine-learning techniques to biological anthropology for examining cemetery organization amid historical sociopolitical and religious shifts.

Exploring Kinship Within a Late Meroitic to Medieval Cemetery in Sudan Using k-Modes Clustering was co-authored by GoddeChrisco, Brenda J. Baker, and Julie Ullinger. Researchers analyzed cranial and dental traits among 67 adults from the Qinifab School cemetery, located between the fourth and fifth cataracts of the Nile River. Using a k-modes clustering algorithm, they identified three distinct burial clusters, suggesting kinship played a role in cemetery organization while also reflecting temporal and social structures.

Findings indicate a multilocal residence pattern, where kin groups intermarried, and a lack of sex-based burial stratification during the medieval period. The study challenges long-held assumptions about ancient Sudanese burial traditions and offers new insights into social dynamics during periods of transition.

The Center for Bioarchaeological Research at Arizona State University funded the research.

GoddeChrisco is a forensic anthropologist and bioarchaeologist. She has 20 years of teaching experience, having started at Moreno Valley College at 2023 after serving as a professor and lecturer at colleges and universities that include the University of La Verne, Modesto Junior College, and Merced College.

GoddeChrisco earned a bachelor's and master's in anthropology from California State University, Sacramento, became a Doctor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is a Registered Professional Archaeologist. Her areas of research include health, inequities, and biological identity in ancient Egyptians and Nubians, medieval London, and contemporary America. She also serves as an editorial board member for the Journal of Forensic Sciences and American Journal of Biological Anthropology. She has nearly 50 publications to her name.

The full article detailing Professor GoddeChrisco's most recent research is available in the forthcoming American Journal of Biological Anthropology and online at the Wiley Online Library.