Mandibular ramus posterior flexure : a sex indicator in Homo sapiens fossil hominids ?
Résumé
Accurate determination of sex in skeletal human samples is very important in anthropological and demographic studies. Recently, Loth and Henneberg (1996, 1997, 1998) have suggested that a new osteological criterion on the mandible, the mandibular ramus posterior flexure (MRPF) had a high sex discriminating effectiveness. A preliminary test applied to a few hominid mandibles (including Australopithecines, Homo erectus, Neandertals and Upper Palaeolithic hominids) apparently confirmed the high reliability of the MRPF as a sex indicator “over time and through paleospecies”.
As the pelvis is commonly considered as providing the most significative criteria that allows to establish skeletal sexual dimorphism of adults, the present paper evaluates this mandibular feature on a few additional Palaeolithic hominids (i.e. Neandertals and Early Modern Humans) for whom a gender estimation was known based upon the pelvis.
This analysis was conducted on the original material and its results appear in contradiction with those of the previous studies made by Loth and Henneberg. A reconsideration of the visual assessment of MRPF as a sex indicator in Homo sapiens fossil hominids is therefore suggested .
As the pelvis is commonly considered as providing the most significative criteria that allows to establish skeletal sexual dimorphism of adults, the present paper evaluates this mandibular feature on a few additional Palaeolithic hominids (i.e. Neandertals and Early Modern Humans) for whom a gender estimation was known based upon the pelvis.
This analysis was conducted on the original material and its results appear in contradiction with those of the previous studies made by Loth and Henneberg. A reconsideration of the visual assessment of MRPF as a sex indicator in Homo sapiens fossil hominids is therefore suggested .
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