Sex estimation using cervical dental measurements in an archaeological population from Iran

Abstract

Sex estimation of skeletal remains is one of the major components of forensic identification of unknown individuals. Teeth are a potential source of information on sex and are often recovered in archaeological or forensic contexts due to their post-mortem longevity. Currently, there is limited data on dental sexual dimorphism of archaeological populations from Iran. This paper represents the first study to provide a dental sex estimation method for Iron Age populations. The current study was conducted on the skeletal remains of 143 adults from two Iron Age populations in close temporal and geographic proximity in the Solduz Valley (West Azerbaijan Province of Iran). Mesiodistal and buccolingual cervical measurements of 1334 maxillary and mandibular teeth were used to investigate the degree of sexual dimorphism in permanent dentition and to assess their applicability in sex estimation. Data was analysed using discriminant function analysis (SPSS 23), and posterior probabilities were calculated for all produced formulae. The results showed that incisors and canines were the most sexually dimorphic teeth, providing percentages of correct sex classification between 86.4 and 100 % depending on the measurement used. The combination of canines and other teeth improved significantly the level of correct sex classification. The highest percentages of sex classification were obtained by the combination of canines and incisors (100 %) and canines and molars (92.3 %). The present study provided the first reference standards for sex estimation using odontometric data in an Iranian archaeological population. Cervical measurements were found to be of value for sex assessment, and the method presented here can be a useful tool for establishing accurate demographic data from skeletal remains of the Iron Age from Iran.

A novel method for sex estimation using 3D computed tomography models of tooth roots: A volumetric analysis

“…Teeth, as one of the strongest tissues in the human body, can be used for this purpose. Most studies on dental sexual dimorphism are based on crown and cervical mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters of teeth (Acharya & Mainali, 2007;Hassett, 2011;Viciano, Lopez-Lazaro, & Aleman, 2013;Kazzazi & Kranioti, 2016). These studies have shown that the canine is the most sexually dimorphic tooth, providing accuracy rates in this respect of over 85% (Hassett, 2011, Viciano, D'Anastasio, & Capasso, 2015Kazzazi & Kranioti, 2016).…”

“…Currently, there are very few studies of sex prediction using odontometric data in either Iranian archaeological or modern populations. The only previous study was done by Kazzazi and Kranioti (2016) using cervical mesiodistal and buccolingual measurements for sex estimation in the same population.…”

Odontometric analysis of sexual dimorphism in permanent maxillary and mandibular molars

“…Dental sexual dimorphism has long been acknowledged as a reliable biological feature in this respect, and studies have demonstrated that dental dimensions can be used to accurately assess the sex of skeletal remains in different populations [1][2][3][4][5][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The present study is one of few reference studies for sex estimation using odontometric data in Iranian archaeological populations [7].…”

“…Since there are currently very few studies of sex estimation using odontometric data in either Iranian archaeological or modern populations the present study makes a significant contribution to the development of the standards of sex assessment in this population [7].…”

Applicability of 3D‐dental reconstruction in cervical odontometrics

“…The aims of this study were (a) to assess the reliability, accuracy, and reproducibility of cervical mesiodistal and buccolingual measurements from virtual models created using CT scan images and (b) to compare them with the same measurements obtained using physical digital calipers on actual teeth. We used the digital calipers method as a standard, because the reliability and accuracy of this method has previously been tested (e.g., Kazzazi & Kranioti, ; Viciano, D'anastasio, & Capasso, ).…”