Distal Humerus--A Blind Test of Rogers' Sexing Technique Using a Documented Skeletal Collection

• NCJ Number: 212633
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2005 Pages: 1289-1293
• Author(s): Ceri G. Falys; Holger Schutkowski; Darlene A. Weston
• Date Published: November 2005
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study reports on a blind test that re-evaluated the method of skeletal determination of sex proposed by Rogers, which is a visual method based on the hypothesis that the morphology of the distal humerus reflects the formation of the carrying angle of the elbow, which differs between the sexes.

Abstract

The carrying angle of the elbow is assumed to differ between the sexes because women have narrower shoulders and wider hips than men, which requires women to adopt a greater carrying angle at the elbow in order to allow the arms to move past the hips during swinging movements of the arms. This angle has been reported to measure approximately 10-15 degrees in men and 20-25 degrees in women. The current study used adults from the documented skeletal collection at St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London, which spans from the late 17th century to the early 19th century and consists of individuals of British Caucasian ancestry. Rogers' 4 proposed sexually dimorphic features--trochlear construction, trochlear symmetry, olecranon fossa shape, and angle of medial epicondyle--were blind tested in 2 independent rounds of observations on 351 left and right humeri of 184 male specimens and 167 female specimens. In the observations, the humeri were separated from the remainder of the respective skeletons. Intra-observer error was assessed with the Chi-square test. Individual traits showed substantial sex-discriminatory capacity, with olecranon fossa shape being the most consistently accurate (84.6 percent) in predicting sex. The combination of all four traits produced an overall accuracy of 79.1 percent, including those individuals assessed as "probable" male or female. The level of accuracy makes this technique useful for forensic application. The distal humerus can be recommended for sex determination in addition to more established markers. 8 tables, 2 figures, and 15 references