Abstract

The clavicle and the sternum are important bones of the anterior thoracic skeleton that are commonly found well preserved in forensic contexts. To assess the concurrent suitability of two bones of the same individual in forensic sex estimations, both clavicles and sternums were collected from 252 male and 91 female autopsy cadavers. This study’s bone dimensions were found to be significantly smaller than of subjects of other nationalities and also higher than previous Indian studies. Statistically significant sex differences were noticed in different dimensions of the two bones (p < 0.001). The univariate DFA found that the product index of the clavicle and combined sternal length were the best sex discriminating variables to identify the sex of about 85% of the cadavers. From the multivariate discriminant function analysis of all linear variables (DF: –18.664 + 0.107 (MCI–L) + 0.180 (MCC–R) +.045(MBL) – 0.071(MDL–L), the sex of 90.7% of the cadavers could be estimated correctly and this percentage was highest when either clavicular or sternal measurements were used in the analyses. The concurrent use of the two bones provided higher accuracy levels with lower sex biases than the individual use of either bone in univariate or multivariate analysis. The clavicle was found to be better and more reliable than the sternum for sex estimations in the current autopsy samples. Further studies are needed to corroborate or negate the findings of these investigations.

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