Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of cranial measurements for estimation of sex in the Brazilian population and develop discriminant formulas with a reference table to be used as a reference on Brazilian Forensic Anthropology studies. The total sample was comprised of 100 skulls from an osteological collection and 200 computed tomography. The measure’s protocol comprised 51 cranial measurements and it was based on 29 cranial landmarks. The results of the univariate comparison of cranial measurements showed a higher mean for male skulls, except for the following variables: zygoorbital breadth (diff=-2.21), interorbital breadth (diff=-0.72), nasal breadth (diff=-0.19) and palatal breadth (diff=-0.01). The paired test t analysis showed that the variables with the highest sexual dimorphism were maximum cranial length (p<0.001), Basion-Bregma height (p<0.001), cranial base length (p<0.001), nasal height (p<0.001), bizigomatic breadth (p<0.001), left Porion-Mastoidale length (p<0.001), right Asterion-Mastoidale length (p<0.001), right (p<0.001) and left (p<0.001) mastoid length. The multivariate discriminant analysis of the cranial measurements of the Brazilian sample showed a percentage of accuracy between 82-90%. The analysis of the metric variables showed that there is sexual dimorphism between skulls in the sample. The regression formulas and the reference table presented satisfactory results for sex estimation in a Brazilian population. The validation process of the discriminant functions and the reference table showed a percentage of accuracy between-74.2-85.7% The analysis of the metric variables showed that there is sexual dimorphism between skulls of the analyzed sample.
Highlights
Forensic Anthropology is the science based on the application of physical and biological anthropological theories and methodologies, those related to the analysis and identification of human remains skeletized, charred or in advanced stages of decomposition to solve legal questions
The paired test t analysis showed that the variables with the highest sexual dimorphism were maximum cranial length (GOL), Basion-Bregma height (BBH), cranial base length (BNL), nasal height (NLH), bizigomatic breadth (ZYB), upper facial height (NPH), right and left PorionMastoidale length (PML), right and left Asterion-Mastoidale length (AML), right and left mastoid length (MDH), Occipital cord (OCC), right and left maximum length of occipital condyle (MLC)
The elaborated discriminant formulas and the reference table presented satisfactory results for sex estimation in a Brazilian population, the multivariate discriminant analysis of the cranial measurements of the Brazilian sample showed a percentage of accuracy between 82-90%
Summary
Forensic Anthropology is the science based on the application of physical and biological anthropological theories and methodologies, those related to the analysis and identification of human remains skeletized, charred or in advanced stages of decomposition to solve legal questions. In all spheres of human relationship, whether in social or legal life, human identification has an indispensable role It is through the process of identification that it becomes possible to establish an identity for an individual. The biological profile is defined as the diagnosis of the sex, estimation of the age at the time of death, estimation of the stature and diagnosis of the population affinities through the analysis of the human remains. This biological information is of paramount importance for the identification process as they limit the groups of potential suspects excluding all profiles that do match with the outline. The skull remains one of the parts of the human skeleton that presents the greatest amount of information in this respect (Kranioti, 2008)
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