The influence of biological affinity and sex on morphometric parameters of the clavicle in a South African sample.

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the influence of environmental and functional factors associated with biological affinity and musculature on sexual dimorphism of the clavicle, and to develop population-specific methods of sex estimation from the clavicle. The maximum length of the clavicle (MAXL), the sagittal diameter of the clavicle (SAGD), and the vertical diameter of the clavicle (VERD) were measured. The left clavicles of 198 South African coloured individuals (108 males and 90 females) were examined. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the SAGD of the clavicle is more sexually dimorphic than the VERD in the South African coloured sample. When the black American, white American, and Greek discriminant functions were applied to the South African coloured metric data, females were more accurately classified than males overall. Population-specific discriminant functions were created for the South African coloured sample. The original accuracy showed that females (85.5%) were more accurately classified than males (78.1%). Overall, the multivariate discriminant function demonstrated a higher correct classification of South African coloureds than the univariate discriminant functions. The results also suggest that univariate discriminant function equations are more accurate for sex estimation than univariate sectioning points in the South African coloured sample. Overall, the results of the present study indicate that the clavicle is an accurate predictor of sex and its dimensions are population-specific. Therefore, discriminant functions of the clavicle should only be used for sex estimation in forensic anthropology with the populations from which they were derived. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.