Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
4
Sex Est
imation and Asse
ssment
Megan K. Moore
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses research methods in sex estimation and assessment of the adult
and subadult skeletons, including a historical perspective of research methods over the
last century. A distinction can be drawn between sex estimation
1
(typically metric with esti-
mable error rates) and sex assessment (nonmetric and without estimable error rates). The
causes of sexual dimorphism are presented, examining both intrinsic and extrinsic factors,
which is essentially the reason why we can estimate or assess sex from the skeleton. When
sexing of the skeleton was first undertaken, visual assessment of sexual characteristics on
the skull and pelvis were the predominant methods. Today, metric sex estimation methods
have replaced the more subjective visual sex assessment, despite the fact that it is much
more tedious to measure the bones than to make a quick visual assessment. The accuracy
of existing metric and nonmetric sexing methods is therefore presented for the various skel-
etal elements. In sex estimation research, subadult sex estimation poses the most difficul-
ties, as many of the secondary sexual characteristics of the skeleton do no fully develop
until after puberty. The conclusion of the chapter addresses some of the demographic
approaches to quantitatively estimate the probability of a skeleton being one sex or
another.
2
This chapter concludes with recommendations for research areas in sex estima-
tion and assessment that require more attention.
Estimating the sex of a human skeleton is very important for the bioarchaeologist and
forensic anthropologist when building a biological profile. In forensic cases, correctly sexing
an unknown individual can reduce the number of possible matches to missing persons by
fifty percent. In bioarchaeology, sex estimation and assessment can help to reveal questions
of differential access to resources or cultural variation in behavior as preserved in the
functional adaptations of the skeleton, that I will discuss later in Chapter 14, this volume.
1
All bolded terms are defined in the glossary at the end of this volume.
2
This is addressed further in the chapter on demography in this volume by
Konigsberg and Frankenberg
(Chapter 11).
