Is Dwight Right? Can the Maximum Height of the Scapula Be Used for Accurate Sex Estimation?

:  This paper presents data from a sample of 803 individuals (308 females and 495 males) from the Hamann‐Todd collection testing Dwight’s century‐old assertion that maximum height of the human scapula can be used for sex estimation—males being larger than 170 mm, females falling below 140 mm. The re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2009-05, Vol.54 (3), p.529-530
Main Author: Dabbs, Gretchen R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Adult
bioarchaeology
Bones
Female
Forensic anthropology
Forensic Anthropology - methods
forensic sciences
Gender
Human remains
human variation
Humans
Male
metric analysis
Middle Aged
Reproducibility of Results
scapula
Scapula - anatomy & histology
Sex Determination by Skeleton - methods
sexual dimorphism
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Summary::  This paper presents data from a sample of 803 individuals (308 females and 495 males) from the Hamann‐Todd collection testing Dwight’s century‐old assertion that maximum height of the human scapula can be used for sex estimation—males being larger than 170 mm, females falling below 140 mm. The results of this project show Dwight’s method has high accuracy when scapular height falls either above or below the sex specific demarcation points (96.81%), but a vast majority of both males and females fall in between. The overall accuracy of the method is just 29.27%. By empirically demonstrating the limited usefulness of Dwight’s technique, the author hopes the rote republication of this method in introductory texts on the subject will cease, and draw attention to the need for multiple methods of sex estimation as a response to the overlap in both size and shape between males and females.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01039.x