Estimating Sex

Question 1

What is sex based on?

Answer 1

chromosomes and sex hormone proportions

Question 1

What is gender based on?

Answer 1

socially prescribed and perceived identities

Question 2

Can you estimate gender from a skeleton?

Answer 2

No!

Question 3

Sexual Dimorphism

Answer 3

physical differences between the sexes of different species

Question 4

How can we estimate biological sex from the skeleton?

Answer 4

size and shape differences

Question 5

Broadly, what do female bones usually look like?

Answer 5

smaller and more rounded

Question 6

Broadly, what do male bones usually look like?

Answer 6

larger and more robust

Question 7

Can you estimate sex from juvenile remains?

Answer 7

No! (sexual dimorphism starts around puberty)

Question 8

Human variation ___.

Answer 8

is not discrete (happens on a scale)

Question 9

Increased disease in a population leads to ___ dimorphism in a population.

Answer 9

decreased

Question 10

How accurate is using the skull and pelvis together for estimation? `

Answer 10

90-100%

Question 11

How accurate is using the pelvis alone for estimation?

Answer 11

90-95%

Question 12

How accurate is using the skull along for estimation?

Answer 12

70-87%

Question 13

How accurate is using long bones alone for estimation?

Answer 13

~80%

Question 14

Why is the pelvis so good for estimating sex?

Answer 14

its under two very important evolutionary constraints that limit variation (walking & childbirth)

Question 15

Why do bones belonging to males have more muscle attachments?

Answer 15

Increased testosterone = increased muscle = increased weight = increased muscle attachments

Question 16

Male v. Female: Pelvis Inlet & Outlet

Answer 16

male: heart-shaped inlet (more closed in), female: circular & oval-shaped

Question 17

Male v. Female: Pelvis Blades

Answer 17

male: high and vertical, female: low and wide

Question 18

Male v. Female: Sacrum

Answer 18

male: long and narrow (tucks in more), female: short and wide (less curvature)

Question 19

What is Phenice’s Method?

Answer 19

the most well known method for sex estimation

Question 20

What traits is Phenice’s Method based on?

Answer 20

ventral arc, subpubic concavity, and ishiopubic ramus

Question 21

Male v. Female: Ventral Arc

Answer 21

male: triangular, female: little corner (more square)

Question 21

Male v. Female: Subpubic Concavity

Answer 21

male: straight, female: concave

Question 22

Male v. Female: Ischiopubic ramus

Answer 22

male: wide and dull, female: narrow and pinched

Question 23

What is the scoring for phenice's method?

Answer 23

1 (female, 2 (indeterminate), 3 (male)

Question 24

What is the significance of the additions by Bulkstra and Ubelaker?

Answer 24

they were included in the 1994 "Standard for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains" which was made due to the passing of the NAGRA act

Question 25

What two additional traits did Bulkstra and Ubelaker add?

Answer 25

Sciatic notch and Preauricular sulcus

Question 26

Male v. Female: Sciatic notch

Answer 26

Male: narrow Female: wide

Question 27

Male v. Female: Preauricular sulcus

Answer 27

Male: no sulcus Female: well-developed sulcus

Question 28

What are three other traits to look out for?

Answer 28

pubic shape, subpubic angle, and obturator foramen

Question 29

Male v. Female: Pubic shape

Answer 29

male: triangular, female: rectangular

Question 30

Male v. Female: Subpubic angle

Answer 30

male: v-shaped, female: u-shaped

Question 31

What is the name of the attempt to use metrics to estimate sex?

Answer 31

the ischiopubric index

Question 32

What does the ischiopubric index measure?

Answer 32

the length of the pubris / the length of the ischium

Question 33

Why is the ischiopubric index difficult to work with?

Answer 33

it is very difficult to find the correct and accurate measurement point as the os coxae is very weird and has no consistent landmarks

Question 34

On average, individuals with a higher ischiopubric percentage are ...

Answer 34

female

Question 35

What are shape differences btwn the sexes in the cranium due too?

Answer 35

size differences

Question 36

True or False: Some methods for estimating sex work better for specific populations than others

Answer 36

TRUE

Question 37

Male v. Female: nuchal crest

Answer 37

male: rugged & hooked, female: small to none

Question 38

Male v. Female: mastoid process

Answer 38

male: large & projecting, female: small & non-projecting

Question 39

Male v. Female: supraorbital margin

Answer 39

male: rounded, female: sharp

Question 40

Male v. Female: glabella

Answer 40

male: large, female: small

Question 41

Male v. Female: mental eminence

Answer 41

male: massive & well-defined, female: minimal

Question 42

Significance of Giles and Elliot's method?

Answer 42

used discriminant functions to determine sex based on metric methods

Question 43

What is the sectioning point?

Answer 43

the metric point that differentiates between females and males when using discriminant/regression functions

Question 44

What are the 4 steps for using Giles and Elliots method?

Answer 44

1. Select appropriate function 2. Measurement x coefficient 3. Add resulting values 4. Compare to sectioning point

Question 45

True or False: Methods using multiple postcranial measurements can be more accurate than cranial methods.

Answer 45

TRUE

Question 46

What is best practice when it comes to using cranial and postcranial methods?

Answer 46

use different methods in different regions of the body to see if they align

Question 47

What are the important measurements from the scapula?

Answer 47

scapular max length & height of glenoid fossa

Question 48

What are the important measurements from the humerus?

Answer 48

vertical head diameter

Question 49

What are the important measurements from the radius?

Answer 49

maximum head diameter & minimum head diameter

Question 50

What are the important measurements from the femur?

Answer 50

head diameter

Question 51

Why is the Terry Collection not great for estimating sex?

Answer 51

the collection is old and does not include Latinx individuals

Question 52

What are the contributions of Spradley et al?

Answer 52

found many postcranial methods used do not work well for Hispanic populations (2008), created new equations for sex estimation of Hispanic populations using postcranial measurements (2015)

Question 53

Why does ancestry play such a big role in estimating sex?

Answer 53

different bones are different depending on population

Question 54

What are the two spreadsheets used for morphoscopic trait sex estimation?

Answer 54

Klales et al (pelvis) and Walker (skull)