An anthropometric method for sex determination from the mandible: test on British Medieval skeletal collections


Submitted: November 9, 2016
Accepted: March 17, 2017
Published: October 16, 2017
Abstract Views: 1354
PDF: 686
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Authors

  • Charlotte Cole School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
  • Constantine Eliopoulos School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
  • Eleni Zorba Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
  • Matteo Borrini School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Sex determination is a vital part of the analysis of skeletal remains and the creation of biological profiles that aid in identification. The pelvis and skull are the regions usually employed by anthropologists and produce very good results. However, the mandible, being a very durable bone and frequently preserved has not received the attention that other skeletal elements have. There are some morphological methods for sexing the mandible, however metrics are considered to be more objective and easier to replicate. This study uses the measurements of the bimental breadth and the corpus thickness of the mandible. Univariate and multivariate analysis was carried out to create discriminant function equations. These equations can be used to sex a mandible with overall accuracy rates as high as 77.3%. The results of the present research are similar to those of other studies and indicate that mandibular metrics can be relied upon for sex determination, especially in cases where other elements are not preserved.

Matteo Borrini, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool
Principal Lecturer
Cole, C., Eliopoulos, C., Zorba, E., & Borrini, M. (2017). An anthropometric method for sex determination from the mandible: test on British Medieval skeletal collections. Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino Della Società Italiana Di Biologia Sperimentale, 90(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jbr.2017.6380

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