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This Phd was conducted under Human Variation and Identification Research Unit (HVIRU), School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Biological Anthropology has long been one of the mainstays of research in Anatomical Sciences. The diversity of living peoples in Southern Africa, together with our richly documented sequence of over 2 million years of fossil and archaeological materials, provides unique research opportunities that cannot be found elsewhere in the world. The aim of this research unit is to study modern human variation, how this variation came to be, and some of its practical applications (e.g., when it comes to human identification in forensic contexts or assessing modern growth processes). The results of this research will shed light on modern human adaptations, specifically with respect to patterns of health and disease. It bridges the gap between the study of fossil hominids and modern, living people and sheds light on where we are today – the modern human experience. This research focuses mostly on skeletal remains and dentitions of currently living and past (anatomically modern) humans and their environmental contexts. Modern approaches to the study and interpretation of human variation and identification are followed, using sophisticated techniques for assessment of population and individual variation, sexual dimorphism, craniofacial identification and the role of taphonomic processes on human remains. The research unit has five focus areas: Forensic anthropology Craniofacial identification Bioarchaeology Human variation Taphonomy A component of service to the community is included under the umbrella of this unit in order to apply our research results. The situation in South Africa with regard to unidentified bodies remains dire, and therefore forensic anthropological consultations are done under the umbrella of the Human Identification Unit. The School of Anatomical Sciences (SoAS) is ideally positioned to conduct the research as outlined above and to address some of these practical issues, as it has a deep history and standing in biological anthropological research both in the country and internationally. It also has excellent collections (for example the RA Dart Collection of Human Skeletons) and facilities. Thanks are due to all the participants who agreed to be photographed for the development of this database. Particular recognition is due to all the volunteers who assisted in participant recruitment for this study: Jesse Fredericks, Kiveshen Pillay, Rethabile Masiu, Sameerah Sallie, Daniel Munesamy, Laurette Joubert, Jordan Swiegers, Betty Mkabela, Johannes P. Meyer, Amy Spies, Natasha Loubser, Nicole Virgili, Dan-Joel Lukumbi, Tamara Lottering, Mathabatha Ntjie, Claudia Landsman, Raheema Dalika, Merete Goosen, Stephanie Souris, Rabelani Negota, Mahlatse Mahasha, Jessica Manavhela. Special thanks are due to Tamara Lottering for her assistance in composing the face pools.

The human face is important in social, cultural and recognition contexts. Many research fields make use of faces to understand human interaction and identify individuals. Studies relying on facial image data often make use of ad hoc datasets specifically created for those studies as there is a dearth of large scale controlled and matching facial image databases. Actualistic (taken in a real life, natural setting) and standardised databases of facial images can be of extreme value to many research areas, such as facial identification and recognition. While multiple face databases are available, the majority, if not all, are developed in order to address very specific questions and hypotheses with limited standardisation, severely limiting their potential applicability. The Wits Face Database was developed as a generic, yet actualistic dataset of facial images obtained from consenting young adult South African male individuals. This database consists of high resolution standardised facial photographs (3264 x 4080 pixels) and corresponding closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings of male South Africans under different camera conditions. A total of 6220 standardised (clothing and background controlled) and natural (visible clothing and out of focus background) facial photographs of 622 matching individuals in five different views are included. Corresponding CCTV footage of 334 of these individuals is also included. Across both the CCTV recordings and the photographs, the faces were captured in five different views: anterior, left 45-degree, left lateral, right 45-degree, and right lateral. The CCTV recordings were grouped under the following actualistic conditions: a standard internet protocol (IP) CCTV set-up, a low-resolution analogue CCTV set-up, an eye-level IP CCTV system, and the standard IP CCTV set-up with the addition of sunglasses and caps for target individuals. A detailed description of the composition and acquisition process of the database will be made available in a database descriptor publication format. The database is available strictly for non-commercial scientific research following approval of a formal application, assessed by the School of Anatomical Sciences’ Collections Committee within the University of the Witwatersrand. A total of 622 participants were photographed. Each participant had 10 photographs taken in different views and at two different distances (1.5m and 5m). The total number of unique photographs included in the database is 6220. All photographs were captured and stored both as native RAW and .jpeg formats. The effective duplication of photographs in these two formats results in 12440 images stored as part of the database. A total of 334 participants were also recorded using different CCTV cameras from the Wits Protection Services surveillance system. An approximate 30 seconds of footage was captured for each participant and extracted as .mp4 videos. The total approximate size of the database is 292 GB. Approximately 92 GB of the database consists of the CCTV footage with the remaining 200 GB being the photographs in all modes of capturing (5 views and two camera distances).

The human face is important in social, cultural and recognition contexts. Many research fields make use of faces to understand human interaction and identify individuals. Studies relying on facial image data often make use of ad hoc datasets specifically created for those studies as there is a dearth of large scale controlled and matching facial image databases. Actualistic (taken in a real life, natural setting) and standardised databases of facial images can be of extreme value to many research areas, such as facial identification and recognition. While multiple face databases are available, the majority, if not all, are developed in order to address very specific questions and hypotheses with limited standardisation, severely limiting their potential applicability. The Wits Face Database was developed as a generic, yet actualistic dataset of facial images obtained from consenting young adult South African male individuals. This database consists of high resolution standardised facial photographs (3264 x 4080 pixels) and corresponding closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings of male South Africans under different camera conditions. A total of 6220 standardised (clothing and background controlled) and natural (visible clothing and out of focus background) facial photographs of 622 matching individuals in five different views are included. Corresponding CCTV footage of 334 of these individuals is also included. Across both the CCTV recordings and the photographs, the faces were captured in five different views: anterior, left 45-degree, left lateral, right 45-degree, and right lateral. The CCTV recordings were grouped under the following actualistic conditions: a standard internet protocol (IP) CCTV set-up, a low-resolution analogue CCTV set-up, an eye-level IP CCTV system, and the standard IP CCTV set-up with the addition of sunglasses and caps for target individuals. A detailed description of the composition and acquisition process of the database will be made available in a database descriptor publication format. The database is available strictly for non-commercial scientific research following approval of a formal application, assessed by the School of Anatomical Sciences’ Collections Committee within the University of the Witwatersrand.