No abstract

This research assessed whether parity has a differential effect on age indicators of the pelvis. The data were collected from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. Age indicators of the pubic symphysis and auricular surface were assessed using the Todd, Suchey-Brooks, Lovejoy et al., and Buckberry and Chamberlain scoring systems. A transition analysis was conducted, and scoring systems of the pubic symphysis showed the parous female group transitioning between eight and 14 years earlier than the nulliparous female and male groups, and 1 and 7 years earlier using the auricular surface methods. A likelihood ratio test produced significantly different results between parous and nulliparous females using the pubic symphysis (p < 0.01) but not the auricular surface (p > 0.05). Although parous females were inaccurately assessed more often than nulliparous females, no correction of methods is necessary at this time as current standards take parity into account by utilizing a lumped female sample.

Although there are numerous reliable multivariate models for sex estimation, many scenarios, both forensic and archaeological, result in the recovery of fragmentary remains, which prevents the collection of various standard measurements. The purpose of this research was to establish metric applications for sex estimation from the distal humerus and distal radius of European/American Whites and American Blacks. Data for this research were retrieved from a sample consisting of a larger database from multiple skeletal collections. Measurements include epicondylar breadth, breadth of the capitulum-trochlea, and distal breadth of the radius. Student's t-test and descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze the data. Classification rates ranged from 75% to 96.4%, with the capitulum-trochlea breadth performing best. Overall, significant metric differences exist between the sexes in the distal humerus and radius and can be utilized to estimate sex. This study offers a reliable alternative sex estimation technique applicable to fragmentary or damaged remains.