NCJ Number
234419
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 56 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2011 Pages: 289-296
Date Published
March 2011
Length
8 pages
Annotation
When the pelvis is unavailable, the skull is widely considered the second best indicator of sex. The goals of this research are to provide an objective hierarchy of sexing effectiveness of cranial and postcranial elements and to test the widespread notion that the skull is superior to postcranial bones.
Abstract
The authors constructed both univariate and multivariate discriminant models using data from the Forensic Anthropology Data Bank. Discriminating effectiveness was assessed by cross-validated classification, and in the case of multivariate models, Mahalanobis D(2). The results clearly indicate that most postcranial elements outperform the skull in estimating sex. It is possible to correctly sex 88-90 percent of individuals with joint size, up to 94 percent with multivariate models of the postcranial bones. The best models for the cranium do not exceed 90 percent. The authors conclude that postcranial elements are to be preferred to the cranium for estimating sex when the pelvis is unavailable. (Published Abstract)