Brief communication: a study of the predictive accuracy of mandibular ramus flexure as a singular morphologic indicator of sex in an archaeological sample.
Loth and Henneberg ([1996] Am J Phys Anthropol 99:473-485) assert that they have discovered a single morphologic indicator of sexual dimorphism in the human mandible that rivals the predictive accuracy of the complete pelvis at 94.2% for all samples (99% for healthy samples). To test the accuracy of their method, mandibles (n = 150) from the Tepe Hissar collection were assessed for the presence or absence of mandibular ramus flexure. These results were then compared to a separate sex assessment based on morphologic indicators from the corresponding skull and innominates (where possible) to yield an overall accuracy of only 78.2%. As a means of independent assessment, the mandibular results were also compared with Krogman's ([1940] Racial Types from Tepe Hessar, Iran, from late fifth to early second millennium, BC. Amsterdam: Koninkliijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen) assessment of sex based on craniofacial measurements and morphologic indicators from the skull. This comparison produced an even lower accuracy of 67.2%. Such results question the predictive potential of mandibular ramus flexure as a single indicator of sexual dimorphism and suggest caution when applying this method, especially in the case of fragmentary forensic and fossil remains.
Haun
S J
SJ
Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. shaun2@sas.upenn.edu
D000885:Anthropology, Physical / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis