Verification of sex diagnosis methods in skeletons of subadult individuals: a comparative study using the medieval skeletal series Creuߥn, Germany.

Objective

Evaluation and verification of morphological and osteometric methods for the sex diagnosis of skeletons of subadult individuals by comparison with molecular genetic sex determinations. Material: 53 individuals (almost exclusively subadult individuals) buried in a medieval mass grave in Creuߥn, Germany.

Methods

Morphological methods referring to the morphology of the pelvis, mandible and facies auricularis, an osteometric method on the pelvis and molecular genetic sex determination by the detection of X- and Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs).

Results

None of the morphological and metric characteristics tested achieved the required minimum assurance level of 75%.

Conclusions

None of the tested methods is a reliable criterion for determining the sex of subadult individuals of the studied skeletal series. Significance: In the literature, morphological sex diagnosis on childrens skeletons is repeatedly criticised, but is a common subject of anthropological investigation. In this paper, once again, attention is drawn to the unreliability of the methods, using the skeletal remains from a medieval mass grave in Creuߥn, Germany. Limitations: The study is limited to the skeletal series presented in this paper and cannot automatically be applied to other skeletal series. Other series from different geographical locations or chronological classifications could lead to different results. Suggestions for further research: Critical consideration of morphological and osteometric sex diagnosis in skeletons of other subadult individuals.