G. Richard Scott

G. Richard Scott, Ph.D., is Foundation Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he teaches and conducts research in physical and dental anthropology. His work integrates skeletal biology, bioarchaeology, and forensic anthropology, focusing on human dental variation and the peopling of the Americas, Arctic, and North Atlantic regions.

Education

• Ph.D., Anthropology – Arizona State University

Research Interests

Scott’s scholarship centers on dental anthropology and skeletal biology, particularly the analysis of nonmetric crown and root traits to reconstruct population history and migration. He maintains active field and laboratory projects on:

• Medieval European populations
• Bioarchaeology of Alaskan Inuit and Greenlandic Norse
• Forensic ancestry estimation via dental morphology (rASUDAS software)
• Stable-isotope paleodietary reconstruction from dental calculus
• Global patterns of dental morphological variation and their evolutionary significance

His investigations span the American Southwest, North Atlantic, Arctic, and Iberian Peninsula, combining traditional morphological scoring with cutting-edge 3-D imaging, geometric morphometrics, and genetic inference.

Scientific Output Trends

Between 2020 and 2025 Scott has published prolifically on: (1) refining dental trait recording protocols for forensic and archaeological applications, (2) testing the Beringian standstill and early peopling models for the Americas, (3) documenting rare dental variants (e.g., three-rooted lower molars, Uto-Aztecan premolar) to illuminate trans-continental population contacts, and (4) developing web-based tools (rASUDAS2) for ancestry estimation from tooth morphology.

Laboratory & Collaborations

Scott directs ongoing research in the UNR Department of Anthropology’s physical anthropology laboratories, mentoring graduate students in dental morphological analysis, stable-isotope preparation, and comparative skeletal collections. His projects are enriched by collaborations across North America, Europe, South America, and East Asia, and he frequently co-authors with archaeologists, geneticists, and forensic scientists.