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Metric Assessment of the “Mastoid Triangle” for Sex Determination: A Validation Study
Author(s) -
Kemkes Ariane,
Göbel Tanja
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00232.x
Subject(s) - metric (unit) , computer science , medicine , engineering , operations management
Recently, a metric approach to skeletal sex determination was published by Paiva and Segre which is based on the summation of two triangular areas defined by three distinct craniometric landmarks: Porion, Mastoidale, and Asterion. According to the authors, values for the total triangle ≥1447.40 mm 2 are characteristic for male crania, while values ≤1260.36 mm 2 are indicative of female skulls (95% confidence). In order to evaluate the method's validity, two sex‐ and age‐documented samples of different provenience were analyzed ( N =197). The results show that while the indicated measurements display significant sex differences, the technique is of little practical meaning where a single individual must be independently classified. It is hypothesized that differences in the expression of sexual dimorphism as well as a population‐specific variability of the asterion location undermine the value of the mastoid triangle as a sex determinant.