Application of Metric Sex Estimation Standards at Tell Abraq: A Study of the Humerus

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Continued Advances in Method and Theory for Commingled Remains" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Estimating sex in commingled assemblages may have an increased reliance on metric methods. These metric methods are often based on known collections that differ in geographical location and historical time period from the commingled collections to which they may be applied. In this presentation, we detail the testing of three different metric standards for the estimation of sex based on the humerus from the Tell Abraq tomb (ca. 2200–2100 BCE, United Arab Emirates). The purpose of this study was to see which metric standard most closely represented the sex ratios already previously established using morphological assessments of the pelvis. Measurements used for all four standards were taken multiple times. Of these, the epicondylar breadth, condylar breadth, and vertical diameter of the head had the highest representation. The number of estimated males and females were then compared by method. Overall, the Spradley and Jantz US standard most closely corresponded to the roughly 60% male, 40% female ratio established by the morphological assessment of the pelvis (despite being very disparate in time and space from Tell Abraq). This study shows the impact of population specificity on metric standards developed for the estimation of sex based on isolated elements.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Continued Advances in Method and Theory for Commingled Remains

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38170.0