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Morphometric Analysis of Sexual Dimorphism in Clavicle Bones from Iron Age Cemetery of Qareh-tappeh of Sagzabad, Iran
Ali Khaniyan and Mostafa Dehpahlavan
Published: 2024/12/01
Abstract
Sex determination is the most vital step towards developing a biological profile for human remains based on which anthropological hypotheses could be formed. However, the incompleteness of human remains necessitates the use of different methods and the analysis of various skeletal elements for sex determination. This study was carried out to assess sexual dimorphism in the clavicle. Seven metric parameters and one morphological feature were used to analyse the morphometric differences between female and male individuals, discovered from the eastern Iron Age cemetery of Qareh-tappeh of Sagzabad, located in the central plateau of Iran. All metric parameters of the right clavicle showed significant differences between the sexes. Although many earlier investigations had found that maximum length and midshaft circumference were the most accurate parameters, our results regarding both anatomical sides suggest that the superior-inferior and anterior-posterior length of the sternal end, and anterior-posterior length of the acromial end are the best parameters to mark out the clavicular sexual dimorphism in this archaeological site. Therefore, when doing single measurements of both anatomical sides, the preservation of the medial and lateral articular surfaces is more important than the preservation of the clavicular shaft. Moreover, in order to augment the accuracy of metric assessment of sexual dimorphism, two formulas were introduced based on full model metric analysis and the stepwise method which yielded 95.8 % and 83.3 % accuracy respectively; hence, using these formulas, the better the clavicle as a whole is preserved, the more accurate the sexing will be. These formulas are useful regardless of the anatomical side. Furthermore, the morphological parameter of rhomboid fossa failed to yield any reliable information for sex determination. Keywords: Osteoarchaeology, Iran, Sex difference, Clavicle
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