Methodology and Reliability of Sex Determination From the Skeleton (Chap. 9)

Jaroslav Brůžek. (1) , Pascal Murail (1)

1 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie

Once a body is completely decomposed, it is necessary to determine sex from the skeleton. The hip bone is the most reliable indicator for sex determination because the pattern of sexual dimorphism is common to the whole human race. Two reliable visual methods are suggested to assess sex from the hip bone. However, the authors recommend the use of a method based on discriminant function analysis incIuding a probabilistic approach that the authors recently developed with a large sample of known-sex individuals. The population specificity of sexual dimorphism of the other parts of the skeleton is also discussed. The authors particularly insist on the inherent limits of discriminant functions on extrapelvic measurements.

Mots clés: discriminant function.; discriminant function; Sex determination; adult; hip bones; pelvic measurements; probability

Domaines: Anthropologie biologique

Jaroslav Brůžek., Pascal Murail. Methodology and Reliability of Sex Determination From the Skeleton (Chap. 9). A. Schmitt, E. Cunha and J. Pinheiro (eds). Forensic Anthropology and Medicine : Complementary Sciences From Recovery to Cause of Death, Humana Press, Totowa, pp.225-242, 2006. ⟨halshs-00434075⟩