Reliability of Cranial Measurements in Identification of Sex of Skull

Abstract

Determination of sex from the skeletal remains is of medico legal importance for establishing the identity of an individual. The determination of deceased sex is first step in skeletal analysis since estimation of age at death, race, and stature depends on sex of deceased. Total 100 adult human skulls (50 male and 50 female) of known sex available in department of anatomy and Forensic Medicine of M. R. Medical College and K. B. N. Medical College, Gulbarga are studied. Various measurements like cranial length, cranial breadth, cranial height and cranial weight are measured. The demarking point (D.P.) and identification point (I.P.) of above four measurements is calculated and then percentage of bones identified by D.P. and I.P. is recorded. The results are compared with the available literature. Among all the 4 independent variables statistically analysed, considering the Demarking Point, the most reliable parameter is weight of the cranium, 14% of male skull can be sorted out by this parameter alone. Considering the Identification point, the most reliable parameter is maximum cranial length 36% of female skulls and 02% of male skulls can be sorted out by this single parameter alone. Though, the Demarking Point of a single parameter may not identify sex in all the bones but the accuracy is nearly 100% in the bones, which are identified.