If bones could talk : estimating sex from the glenoid cavity

Abstract

The scapula, including the glenoid cavity has been used for the metric sex estimation of human remains. Studies have shown that using the glenoid cavity for sex estimation requires population specific data. There are currently no studies published using the glenoid cavity of Black American individuals. The objective of this project tests the accuracy of a Cretan discriminant function, created by Papaioannou et al. (2012) when applied to a Black American population. The maximum length (LGC) and maximum breadth (BGC) of the glenoid cavity was measured in 200 Black Americans (100 male, 100 female) from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Skeletal Collection. The Cretan glenoid cavity discriminant functions were applied to these data to classify the individual as male or female. Upon comparison to the Cretan sample, 100% of female Black Americans were correctly classified, whereas only 69% of male Black Americans were correctly classified. This result indicates that the Papaioannou et al. (2012) discriminant functions could not be used to accurately estimate sex in the Black American sample. To further clarify variation of the glenoid cavity between populations, the Black American descriptive statistics for LGC and BGC were compared to those of contemporary Italians, White Americans, Greeks, Mexicans, Chileans and Guatemalans for each of females and males. Black Americans were statistically different from both sexes in Guatemalans, White Americans and Greeks and female Black Americans and Mexicans exhibited statistical difference. Therefore, for accurate sex estimation using the glenoid cavity in Black Americans, population-specific discriminant functions are necessary.