Identifier

etd-04102015-100705

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Geography and Anthropology

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Physical anthropologists strive to improve the accuracy of sex identification and to establish criteria of measurements within various populations. Different groups of native inhabitants show dissimilar results within cranial measurements and inaccuracies have been confirmed when comparing all populations to the common standard lineal measurements. This research examined 24 measurements on 120 crania from Norway and used statistical analyses to determine the sexual dimorphism between male and female crania. The study established the measurements with the most sexual dimorphism. These are the measurements of bizygomatic breadth, basion-bregma, biauricular breadth, glabella-opisthocranion, and upper facial breadth. The similarity of the values of nasal breadth, maxillo-alveolar length, orbital breadth, orbital height, interorbital breadth, parietal chord, and foramen magnum length between the sexes within the sample can rule out these measurements as a way to establish the sex of an unidentified individual. When running the measurements through the Fordisc software, it becomes clear that the values already found in the software directory are insufficient to determine the correct sex and ancestry when compared to the measurements of crania of Norwegian decent. Males often are misclassified as females and both sexes often are determined to be of incorrect ancestral group.

Date

2015

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Manhein, Mary H.

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.289

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