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Sex Assessment from the Sacral Base by Means of Image Processing |
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| Authors: | Stefano Benazzi,Ph.D., Claudia Maestri,B.Sc., Simona Parisini,B.Sc., Francesco Vecchi,Prof., Giorgio Gruppioni,Prof. |
| Affiliation: | Department of Palaeoanthropology and Messel Research, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main 60325, Germany.; Department of History and Methods for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, 48100 Ravenna, Italy.; Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Rome "La Sapienza," 00185 Roma, Italy. |
| Abstract: | Abstract: To help improve sex assessment from skeletal remains, the present study considers the diagnostic value of the sacral base (basis osseus sacri) based on its planar image and related metric data. For this purpose, 114 adult sacra of known sex and age from two early 20th century Italian populations were examined, the first from Bologna, northern Italy ( n = 76), and the second from Sassari, Sardinia ( n = 38). Digital photos of the sacral base were taken with each bone in a standardized orientation. Technical drawing software was used to trace its profile and to measure related dimensions (area, perimeter, and breadth of S1 and total breadth of the sacrum). The measurements were subjected to discriminant and classification function analyses. The sex prediction success of 93.2% for the Bolognese sample, 81.6% for the Sassarese sample, and 88.3% for the pooled sample indicates that the first sacral vertebra is a good character for sex determination. |
| Keywords: | forensic science forensic anthropology sex assessment sacrum image analysis discriminant analysis human skeleton remains |