par Boucherie, Alexandra ;Polet, Caroline ;Lefèvre, Philippe ;Vercauteren, Martine
Référence One-day Symposium Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE) (14-09-2019: LABO-Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Publication Non publié, 2019-09-14
Communication à un colloque
Résumé : Establishing the biological profile of human skeletal remains recovered in a forensic context is a key step for an investigation process and one of the fundamental responsibilities of the forensic anthropologist. In order to assess the sex of a skeleton, forensic anthropologist can commonly base their analysis on the most dimorphic element between females and males: os coxae. Nevertheless, in front of incomplete skeletons, absent or fragmented os coxae, or taphonomically altered bones, efficiency and reliability of the sex estimation may be jeopardised. To address these complex but frequent cases, this research aims to develop an alternative sexing method by investigating sexual dimorphism of another anatomical region known to be both sexually discriminant and less likely to be damaged, due to a resistant architecture: the cranial base (i.e. occipital and temporal bones). Our on-going doctoral research is carried out on a large European skeletal corpus composed of 611 individuals of known age and sex (537 adults and 74 subadults), coming from 7 documented skeletal collections. To increase objectivity, a metrical approach combining both traditional tools and new imaging techniques (surface scanning and tomodensitometry) will be developed. Here, we present preliminary results obtained in a Portuguese sample of this corpus. A set of 73 metrical variables have been collected with a sliding caliper on the cranial base of 140 individuals of the Luis Lopes collection (101 adults and 39 subadults), curated in Lisbon, MUNHAC. To ensure repeatability of the protocol, an intraclass correlation coefficient has been calculated for each variable. Statistical tests have been executed to evaluate metrical differences between females and males for each variable, separately within the adults and subadults. Further discriminant function analyses will be necessary to unravel the degree of sexual dimorphism existing on occipital and temporal metrical traits, including bony labyrinth, on both adults and subadults.