SEX ESTIMATION UTILIZING DIMENSIONS FROM THE OCCIPITAL BONE, ATLAS, AND AXIS

Abstract

Various bones can be used to estimate sex of skeletal remains of a human. Because of distinct sexual dimorphism, bones of the pelvis and skull are preferred; however, these bones are often unavailable or damaged, and researchers are forced to use other bones to estimate sex. My study focuses on the diagnostic utility of the occipital, atlas, and axis to estimate sex. Previous studies have indicated that these bones can estimate sex with 69 – 90% accuracy for the base of the cranium, 60 – 89% accuracy from dimensions of the atlas, and 82 – 90% accuracy from dimensions from the axis. To explore whether the accuracy of these bones for estimating sex could be increased, I measured 30 discrete features of these bones, including 24 previously used and six new measurements, on 83 modern white individuals from the William M. Bass Skeletal Collection at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. I used FORDISC 3.1 and R 3.3.2 for my analyses. I was able to estimate sex with an accuracy of 77% for the occipital, 76.9 – 80.0% for the atlas, 89.2% for the axis, and 87.1 – 88.6% combined.