On the reliability of non-metrical morphological sex determination of the skull compared with that of the pelvis in The Low Countries

Bibliographic Data

ID12371131
AuthorsGeorge J R Maat, Rob W Mastwijk, Edo A Van Der Velde
Year1997
Volume7
Issue6
Pages575-580
Publication date1997-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199711/12)7:6<575::aid-oa308>3.0.co;2-4
OpenAlexW2011101445
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited5

In order to study the suitability of the skull for sex determination, a sample of 202 adult human skeletons with pelves was analysed according to the recommendations of the Workshop of European Anthropologists (1980). The remains originated from citizens of the medieval city of Dordrecht in The Netherlands (AD 1275–1572). Sex was determined by means of non-metrical morphological sex-descriminant features of the skull (cranium plus mandible) and of the separate cranium and separate mandible, and compared against determination made using the pelvis. The reliability of the pelvic sex determination was verified by evaluating the position of the lowest intermediate frequency of the bimodal distribution of the degrees of sexualization of the pelvis. Contingency diagrams and tables were drawn with respect to the sex diagnosis and the degree of sexualization of (i) the skull (cranium plus mandible) and related pelvis, (ii) the cranium and related pelvis, and (iii) the mandible and related pelvis. It was concluded that sex diagnosis using the skull, cranium and mandible corresponded to that using the pelvis in 96.2 per cent (N=106), 95.7 per cent (N=140) and 69.5 per cent (N=118) of the cases, respectively. Notably, in the case of female pelves (N=64), 51.6 per cent of the related mandibles were diagnosed as ‘male’. Therefore a caveat must be entered in the use of the mandible for the determination of sex, because in the Low Countries it was found to lack reliability. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Biology · Mandible (arthropod mouthpart · Pelvis · Skull · Zoology · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Medicine · Anatomy · Orthodontics