The acetabulum: sex assessment of prehistoric New Zealand Polynesian innominates

With increasing urban development in New Zealand, prehistoric Polynesian skeletal remains are frequently being recovered. Since such material must often be reinterred quickly, it has become important that the sex of individuals be determined from the remains in a relatively short time. For this purpose, discriminant function analysis was utilised for sex determination of prehistoric adult New Zealand Polynesian innominates (21 male and 35 female). Maximum diameter of the acetabulum was measured and subjected to SPSS direct discriminant function analysis. Accuracy of sex determination ranged from 85.2% to 86.2%. Reduction in error over random assignment by sex ranged from 70% to 72%. The two discriminant functions derived will provide a useful tool for the assessment of human remains in the forensic and archaeological context because they incorporate a single measurement which can be taken on incomplete bones.