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The aims of this study are first, to test the relevance of the three non-metric traits in the preauricular region established by Bruzek (2002) for identifying the female population, and second, to test the relationship between the morphology of the preauricular area and parity. Age and pelvic dimensions are also analysed as potential contributing factors. The group under study, derived from the SIMON identified skeletal collection (Vaud, Switzerland), comprises individuals living at the end of the 19th and in the first half of the 20th centuries. The sample consists of 504 coxal bones (including 236 pairs) from 268 individuals (133 females and 135 males), aged 16 to 81, with age classes equally represented. The obstetric history is known for a subgroup of 99 females. Using the three visual criteria employed together, the results of sex estimation indicate that both the indeterminate rate (11.3% for observer 1 and 7.7% for observer 2) and the classification error rate (2.2% and 9.2%, respectively) are low. The study then shows that the preauricular groove, as defined by Bruzek (2002), is present in significant proportions in both nulliparous females (73.8%) and females who have given birth (79.8%), and that therefore it cannot be considered an indicator of obstetric history. The number of children does not seem to be an explanatory factor, but age contributes to the shaping of these bony imprints. The preauricular groove is already recognizable in close to 60% of females aged 16 to 39 years, but the bony changes are more marked with increasing age, leading to a decrease in both sex diagnostic error and indeterminacy. Correlation between a hyperfeminine morphology of the pelvis and a highly feminine development of the preauricular area may indicate a biomechanical contribution.

This paper summarizes the history of the study of bone surface depressions near the contact surfaces of the sacroiliac joint, or grooves located below the linea terminalis, known in the literature as "scars of parturition" or "pelvic scars". Since the beginning of the 20th century, the "sulcus praeauricularis" has been confused with the "sulcus paraglenoidalis" without a satisfactory explanation of their aetiology. Any groove in the preauricular area of the pelvic bone has been referred to as an indicator of female sex and used in sex estimation in a way that does not respect the nature of sex differences. Novotný (1979) included bone structures, which were described by various authors in both females and males, in his method of holistic evaluation. He proposed a three-step categorization for the evaluation of the bone surface of the pelvic preauricular area (three sub-characteristics scored independently) in order to distinguish the sulcus praeauricularis as a female trait from other structures that may occur in both sexes. However, Novotný's work did not become widely known. Testing of the Novotný method was performed in four groups of individuals of known sex without knowledge of the reproductive history of the females (Novotný 1981; Bruzek 2002; Mikesova 2008) and included a total of 852 pelvic bones (457 male and 395 female). The results showed that female morphology, which is characterized by the presence of various forms of sulcus praeauricularis, occurred in a total of 270 of 395 females (68.3%). Female morphology was found in only 5 of 457 males (1.1%). Male morphology was observed in 419 of 457 males (91.7%), but also in 11.1% of females (44 of 395). Indeterminate or ambiguous morphology was found in 33 of 457 males (7.2%) and 81 of 395 females (20.5%). The application of the Novotný method showed that of the total 275 specimens with female morphology, 98.2% were females and only 1.8% were males. It is therefore appropriate to use this reliable method to estimate the sex of skeletal samples. To test the relationship between morphology and obstetric history in females it is necessary to use a sample with known parity.

Objectives This study aims at proposing a visual method for sexing the human os coxae based on a statistical approach, using a scoring system of traits described by Bruzek (2002). This method is evaluated on a meta-population sample, where the data were acquired by direct observation of dry bones as well as computed tomography (CT) scans. A comparison with the original Bruzek's (2002) method is performed. Materials and methods Five hundred and ninety two ossa coxae of modern humans are included in the reference dataset. Two other samples, composed respectively of 518 ossa coxae and 99 CT-scan images, are both used for validation purposes. The individuals come from five European or North American population samples. Eleven trichotomic traits (expressing female, male, or intermediate forms) were observed on each os coxae. The new approach employs statistical processing based on logistic regressions. An R package freely available online, PELVIS, implements both methods. Results Both methods provide highly reliable sex estimates. The new statistical method has a slightly better accuracy rate (99.2%) than the former method (98.2%) but has also a higher rate of indeterminate individuals (12.9% vs. 3% for complete bones). Conclusion The efficiency of both methods is compared. Low error rates were preferred over high ability of reaching the classification threshold. The impact of lateralization and the asymmetry of observed traits are discussed. Finally, it is shown that this visual method of sex estimation is reliable and easy to use through the graphical user interface of the R package.

The aims of this study are first, to test the relevance of the three non-metric traits in the preauricular region established by Bruzek (2002) for identifying the female population, and second, to test the relationship between the morphology of the preauricular area and parity. Age and pelvic dimensions are also analysed as potential contributing factors. The group under study, derived from the SIMON identified skeletal collection (Vaud, Switzerland), comprises individuals living at the end of the 19

Menarche is an indicator frequently used to study variation in growth, development, and related health conditions among members of living populations. As a life event, menarche is often associated with changes in an individual's social identity. The reproductive lifespan, which for females starts with menarche, is a paramount feature of palaeodemographic studies. Determination of menarche status from the skeletal remains of individuals of past populations can be obtained by assessing the developmental status of the iliac crest, as well as the hand and wrist bones, which are, unlike teeth, often poorly recovered in bioarchaeological contexts. The present study seeks to evaluate the link between dental mineralization and menarche in a population of known menarche status. The relationship between permanent teeth mineralization and menarche status was investigated by using data of developing permanent teeth (167 radiographs) rated in accordance with the well-known standards of Demirjian et al. and Moorrees et al. collected among 73 living French females of known menarcheal status. Using correlation ratios, GLMM and CART algorithm, menarcheal status is correlated with mineralization of the premolars. Menarcheal status is predicted correctly for 92 and 77% of radiographs of the learning and validation samples, respectively. Although promising, the results require caution prior to generalization to other populations. The age of menarche in this particular sample may simply coincide with the development of the premolars in this particular sample. Therefore, further investigation applied to populations with various mean ages of menarche is required in order to provide new evidence of variation in human growth and development from the correspondence between the mineralization of the permanent teeth and menarche.

Most of the studies investigating the diagenetic trajectory of fossil bones focus on open-air sites and very little work have been published in confined environments such as catacombs. While the stable thermal history of catacombs should favor bone preservation, the accumulation of corpses over a short period of time could favor their destruction. The aim of this study is to describe the diagenetic trajectory of 128 human bone samples coming from six different burial chambers of the catacomb of Sts Peter and Marcellinus (SSPM, Rome, Italy). A multi-proxy approach was undertaken to provide an assessment of the molecular preservation as well as a direct record of the isotopic composition itself. Collagen yield, carbon and nitrogen abundances, C:N ratio, FT-IR based collagen and carbonate contents and crystallinity index, radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of bone collagen and carbonate indicate that both the mineral and the organic fractions are impacted by diagenesis to various degrees, and that bones originating from the small burial chambers are more affected than those coming from the large ones. While some of the bones were strongly recrystallized, the impact of bone diagenesis on the stable isotope values of bone carbonate was limited. Comparison with contemporary sites from the Latium showed that conditions prevailing in catacombs seem overall to favor, rather than disadvantage bone preservation.

Estimation the sex of the creators of rock art scenes from handprints left in prehistoric caves has been of growing interest in archaeology in recent years. It has been suggested that both males and females were involved in symbolic activities, which has shaped the view of gender roles in prehistory. The experience from biological and forensic anthropology suggests, however, that using recent standards for the sex estimation of prehistoric handprints may be prone to errors. The aim of this study is to document the accuracy and reliability of sex estimation from handprints in a recent European sample and to assess the applicability of recent standards to the sex prediction of prehistoric artists. Our sample consists from 100 handprints of recent males and females from southern France. The sex of handprints is estimated by two discriminant functions using five direct measurements (DFdirect) and two indices (DFindex). The results showed that DFdirect correctly predicts sex in 92% of recent handprints but only about half the handprints can be classified with a certainty higher than 95%. The accuracy of DFindex is only 63% and cannot be successfully applied to sex estimation. We further suggest that the accuracy of both functions is overestimated due to the correct classification of handprints by chance and that especially DFindex is able to predict sex even in randomised datasets with no sexual differences. Finally, we demonstrate that both DFdirect and DFindex perform poorly when they are applied to population with hand size different from that used to derive them, i.e. that functions do not generalise across different populations and time periods. We argue that, given the lack of information about hand size in the population of prehistoric artists, recent attempts to estimate sex from handprints depicted in Palaeolithic cave art using morphometric data from recent populations is inevitably associated with unpredictable bias.

Determination of sex is one of the most important and challenging disciplines in biological anthropology. Creating a robust tool for sexing crania is crucial for forensic anthropology, especially in this period of migration, travel, and globalization, when different populations are mixed together in one region. Many different approaches to sex estimation using the skull have been published; however, population specificity and oscillation of variable sexual dimorphism typically reduces their effectiveness. The aim of this study was to create a robust classifier using virtual anthropology without the use of a CT scanner. The entire cranial surface was analyzed using coherent point drift-dense correspondence analysis and classification was performed using a support vector machine with a radial kernel, minimizing subjective error. The study sample consisted of 103 CT scans of a recent southern French population. Virtual scans of 52 males and 51 females (age from 18 to 92) were analyzed using 3D software systems (Rapidform, Avizo, Morphome3cs) and innovative approaches in geometric morphometrics. Leave-one-out crossvalidation was also applied. Sex differences in shape and form were displayed by colour scale maps. The whole cranial surface was significantly different between males and females in size (form). Sexual dimorphism was significantly lower in senile skulls. The most exclusive areas were the supraorbital region, orbits, cheek bones, nasal apertures, mastoids, and external occipital protuberances. The method provided a high level of classification accuracy (90.3%) in sexing male and female skulls and is a valuable tool for sex determination.

The aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy and the reliability of four methods of dental age estimation (Demirjian, Willems I, Willems II, and Chaillet standards) in a French population. Orthopantomograms of 743 children aged between 4 and 15 years were used. The Demirjian standards gave a consistent overestimation of dental age compared with chronological age (+0.45 and +0.46 years for girls and boys, respectively). We found that three modified methods were more accurate for both sexes than Demirjian's method: the Willems I method appeared to be more suitable when the sex and ethnicity are both known (-0.09 and +0.14 years for girls and boys, respectively); the Willems II method was more accurate for children of unknown sex (mean difference = 0.00 years), and the Chaillet method was found to be more accurate than the Demirjian method, but less accurate than the Willems I method (-0.59 and -0.18 years for girls and boys, respectively).

World-renowned Renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe died on 24 October 1601, after 11 days of illness. Several conspiracy theories regarding his death have been aired, the first shortly after his death by William Shakespeare in the play Hamlet, published in 1603. A key factor in the still lively debate is whether he was administered mercury—as medicine by his own hand, or as poison by an unfriendly hand. In 2010, Brahe's grave was reopened and samples of his bones, hair, teeth and the textiles were procured and analysed. Here, we present evidence that Brahe was not administered lethal doses of mercury.

Menarche is an indicator frequently used to study variation in growth, development, and related health conditions among members of living populations. As a life event, menarche is often associated with changes in an individual's social identity. The reproductive lifespan, which for females starts with menarche, is a paramount feature of palaeodemographic studies. Determination of menarche status from the skeletal remains of individuals of past populations can be obtained by assessing the developmental status of the iliac crest, as well as the hand and wrist bones, which are, unlike teeth, often poorly recovered in bioarchaeological contexts. The present study seeks to evaluate the link between dental mineralization and menarche in a population of known menarche status. The relationship between permanent teeth mineralization and menarche status was investigated by using data of developing permanent teeth (167 radiographs) rated in accordance with the well-known standards of Demirjian et al. and Moorrees et al. collected among 73 living French females of known menarcheal status. Using correlation ratios, GLMM and CART algorithm, menarcheal status is correlated with mineralization of the premolars. Menarcheal status is predicted correctly for 92 and 77% of radiographs of the learning and validation samples, respectively. Although promising, the results require caution prior to generalization to other populations. The age of menarche in this particular sample may simply coincide with the development of the premolars in this particular sample. Therefore, further investigation applied to populations with various mean ages of menarche is required in order to provide new evidence of variation in human growth and development from the correspondence between the mineralization of the permanent teeth and menarche.

This article demonstrates the analytical potential of graph theory for understanding mortuary practices in past societies. We take advantage of social network analysis software PAJEK to model relationships among burials. The case study of the Early Bronze Age cemetery Rebesovice (Czech Republic) is used to explore the potential of the network approach to explain the contrast between the center and the periphery of the cemetery. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain this contrast: Chronological and social. The first hypothesis explains the difference between the center and the periphery as an effect of social standing, while the latter as an effect of time. The data set includes archaeological and biological data from 72 burials. We calculate simple matching distance matrices as a measure of dissimilarity among the burials based on socially and chronologically significant variables and Euclidean matrix as a measure of spatial proximity among pairs of graves. We project the results into geographic space an...

Lors du recolement des collections du Musee national de Prehistoire (MNP), des restes humains ont ete identifies en 2008 dans les collections de faune du site mousterien de Regourdou (Montignac). Parmi ces nouveaux vestiges, des fragments de la ceinture pelvienne sont identifies. Ils s’associent au sacrum de l’individu Regourdou 1, initialement present dans les collections de restes humains conserves au Musee d’Art et d’Archeologie du Perigord (MAAP), un jeune adulte neandertalien decrit partiellement par Piveteau (1959, 1963, 1964, 1966), Vandermeersch et Trinkaus (1995) et Maureille et al. (2001). Nous proposons ici une description morphologique du bassin de Regourdou 1, associee a une comparaison avec d’autres pelvis neandertaliens.D’une maniere generale, les os coxaux de Regourdou sont puissants, notamment au niveau des insertions musculaires. Bien que leur morphologie generale s’eloigne peu de la morphologie moderne, on observe certains traits particuliers deja decrits chez les Neandertaliens comme la deviation mediale de l’epine iliaque antero-inferieure ou la profondeur de la gouttiere sous-cotyloidienne. L’etude de ce nouveau pelvis contribue a documenter la variabilite neandertalienne d’une region anatomique toujours mal connue.

La diagnose sexuelle a partir du squelette se partage entre les methodes visuelles, chargees d’une grande subjectivite et necessitant un apprentissage, et les methodes metriques (fonctions discriminantes) qui sont specifiques aux populations a partir desquelles elles ont ete elaborees. La principale limite de ces dernieres methodes en termes de reproductibilite est incarnee par le facteur taille, connu pour etre variable d’une population a l’autre. Les recents developpements de la morphometrie geometrique ouvrent de nouvelles voies de recherche. Cette etude evalue le degre de dimorphisme sexuel du crâne d’une serie de 50 squelettes identifies (25 hommes et 25 femmes issus de la collection Olivier,MNHN, Paris) par le biais de la morphometrie geometrique. Cette technique autorise une separation de la taille globale et de la conformation des crânes. Les variations de taille et de conformation ainsi identifiees sont alors statistiquement etudiees et interpretees. Notre echantillon revele un fort dimorphisme sexuel de taille et un dimorphisme sexuel de conformation plus subtil, notamment dans la region faciale de nos individus. Ces differences entre hommes et femmes se concentrent sur l’os zygomatique, le temporal et la cavite nasale; elles sont en partie imputables a des phenomenes allometriques et biomecaniques. Les perspectives de tels resultats sont discutees en termes de potentiels pour l’elaboration de methodes de determination du sexe a partir du crâne plus fiables.

Dans l’esprit du theme principal du colloque anniversaire des 150 ans de la Societe d’anthropologie de Paris: « Des conceptions d’hier aux recherches de demain », cette etude propose une courte synthese sur l’evolution des recherches portant sur la croissance. La croissance est une vaste problematique qui interesse activement les anthropologues et de nombreuses disciplines conjointes depuis pres d’un siecle et demi. De ce fait, de nombreuses publications se succedent sans pour autant faire l’objet de synthese particuliere ou bien celle-ci reste ciblee sur un sujet precis. Dresser un etat des lieux de la question semblait donc necessaire. Apres un bref historique des principales etudes sur la croissance, les limites et les biais majeurs qui en ressortent ont ete releves. Enfin, les perspectives de recherches sont soulignees et illustrees par un exemple issu d’une large etude de comparaisons de populations traitant d’allometrie du squelette. L’allometrie permet, dans une certaine mesure, de s’affranchir de l’âge estime en comparant deux mesures par des analyses de regression. Bien que certains facteurs de biais persistent, les interpretations, fiables, obtenues via cette analyse completent les donnees sur le developpement squelettique des enfants des populations du passe.

Accuracy of identification tools in forensic anthropology primarily rely upon the variations inherent in the data upon which they are built. Sex determination methods based on craniometrics are widely used and known to be specific to several factors (e.g. sample distribution, population, age, secular trends, measurement technique, etc.). The goal of this study is to discuss the potential variations linked to the statistical treatment of the data. Traditional craniometrics of four samples extracted from documented osteological collections (from Portugal, France, the U.S.A., and Thailand) were used to test three different classification methods: linear discriminant analysis (LDA), logistic regression (LR), and support vector machines (SVM). The Portuguese sample was set as a training model on which the other samples were applied in order to assess the validity and reliability of the different models. The tests were performed using different parameters: some included the selection of the best predictors; some included a strict decision threshold (sex assessed only if the related posterior probability was high, including the notion of indeterminate result); and some used an unbalanced sex-ratio. Results indicated that LR tends to perform slightly better than the other techniques and offers a better selection of predictors. Also, the use of a decision threshold (i.e. p > 0.95) is essential to ensure an acceptable reliability of sex determination methods based on craniometrics. Although the Portuguese, French, and American samples share a similar sexual dimorphism, application of Western models on the Thai sample (that displayed a lower degree of dimorphism) was unsuccessful.

International audience; Determination of sex is a key aspect in the study of past populations. Bias in skeletal sexing is well known, however, and depends upon the completeness of the skeletal remains and the representativeness of reference samples. In order to correct these difficulties, the authors propose practical adjustments to Van Vark's well-known procedure. Two fundamental aspects are considered to reduce the bias of sex allocation. First, we propose to increase the effectiveness of sexing during the first step (primary diagnosis only from the pelvic bone). Second, to improve the final step (secondary diagnosis from the extra-pelvic skeleton), we consider posterior probabilities as essential. These two practical adjustments are successfully tested in a sample of known sex and lead to a classification with 94.5% accuracy. These results significantly improve sex determination in archaeological samples and therefore contribute to a better understanding of past populations.

The hip bone is considered to be one of the most reliable indicators in sex determination. The aim of this study was to test the reliability of the DSP method for the hip bone proposed by Murail et al. (Bull Mem Soc Anthropol Paris, 17, 2005, 167) on a sample from a present-day population in France (52 males and 54 females). Ten linear measurements were collected from three-dimensional models derived from computed tomography images (CTI). To quantify the proportions of correct sex determinations, a more rigorous posterior probability threshold of 0.95 was applied. Using all 10 measurements, 92.3% of males and 97.2% of females were sexed correctly. The percentage of undetermined specimens varied depending on the used combination of measurements; however, all sexes were assigned with a 100% accuracy. This study proves that DSP is an appropriate and reliable tool for sex determination, based on dimensions obtained from CTI.

International audience

On the basis of new examination of an- cient DNA and craniometric analyses, Neolithic dispersal in Central Europe has been recently explained as reflect- ing colonization or at least a major influx of near eastern farmers. Given the fact that Neolithic dispersal in Cen- tral Europe was very rapid and extended into a large area, colonization would have to be associated with high population growth and fertility rates of an expanding Neolithic population. We built three demographic models to test whether the growth and fertility rates of Neo- lithic farmers were high enough to allow them to colo- nize Central Europe without admixture with foragers. The principle of the models is based on stochastic popu- lation projections. Our results demonstrate that coloniza- tion is an unlikely explanation for the Neolithic dispersal in Central Europe, as the majority of fertility and growth rate estimates obtained in all three models are higher than levels expected in the early Neolithic popu- lation. On the basis of our models, we derived that colo- nization would be possible only if (1) more than 37% of women survived to mean age at childbearing, (2) Neo- lithic expansion in Central Europe lasted more than 150 years, and (3) the population of farmers grew in the entire settled area. These settings, however, represent very favorable demographic conditions that seem unlikely given current archaeological and demographic evidence. Therefore, our results support the view that Neolithic dispersal in Central Europe involved admix- ture of expanding farmers with local foragers. We esti- mate that the admixture contribution from foragers may have been between 55% and 72%. Am J Phys Anthropol

Summary. — The direct application of the discriminant function analysis proposed by Schutkowski (1990) for sex diagnosis of immature individuals based on the ilium to two samples of know age and sex (from University of Coimbra ; Musée de l'Homme, Paris) is not convincing. New discriminant functions have to be calculated for each sample, providing evidence that they are specific to each series., Résumé. — Le test des fonctions discriminantes de Schutkowski (1990) proposé pour la diagnose sexuelle à partir de l'ilium, appliqué à deux séries d'enfants de sexe et ď âge connus (Université de Coimbra ; Musée de l'Homme, Paris), conduit à douter de la validité de leur application directe. De nouvelles fonctions incluant de nouveaux paramètres sont alors proposées pour les deux séries de référence, confirmant ainsi la spécificité des fonctions pour un échantillon de population donnée., Majó Tona, Tillier Anne-Marie, Bruzek Jaroslav. Test des fonctions discriminantes de Schutkowski impliquant l'ilium pour la détermination du sexe dans des séries d'enfants de sexe et d'âge connus. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 5 fascicule 1-2, 1993. pp. 61-68.

Identification in forensic anthropology and the definition of a biological profile in bioarchaeology are essential to each of those fields and use the same methodologies. Sex, age, stature and ancestry can be conclusive or dispensable, depending on the field. The Fordisc(®) 3.0 computer program was developed to aid in the identification of the sex, stature and ancestry of skeletal remains by exploiting the Forensic Data Bank (FDB) and computing discriminant function analyses (DFAs). Although widely used, this tool has been recently criticised, principally when used to determine ancestry. Two sub-samples of individuals of known sex were drawn from French (n=50) and Thai (n=91) osteological collections and used to assess the reliability of sex determination using Fordisc(®) 3.0 with 12 cranial measurements. Comparisons were made using the whole FDB as well as using select groups, taking into account the posterior and typicality probabilities. The results of Fordisc(®) 3.0 vary between 52.2% and 77.8% depending on the options and groups selected. Tests of published discriminant functions and the computation of specific DFA were performed in order to discuss the applicability of this software and, overall, to question the pertinence of the use of DFA and linear distances in sex determination, in light of the huge cranial morphological variability.

Summary. — The aim of this study is to test the discriminant function analysis already proposed and to propose new discriminant functions with regard to the simplification of the selection of variables and to the principles of reliability. The sample consists of 402 human hip bones from adults of known sex of two european populations, french and portugese. Only three discriminant functions analysis are reliable to achieve the accuracy in sexing better than 90 % (those of Novotný, 1975 ; Bruzek, 1984 and Schulter-Ellis et a/.,1985) ; the last two functions achieve in the pooled french and portugese sample more that 95 % of correct sex diagnosis. The reliability of discriminant function analysis depends on the variable selection, on their distribution among the three morpho-functional aspects of hip bone (ischio-pubic, acetabular and sacro-iliac aspects) and on the inter- and intra- observer error of measurements. The comparison of 21 new discriminant function analyses show that an accuracy higher than 95 % exists among both series and in the pooled sample of two series., Résumé. — Dans cet article, après un test des fonctions discriminantes existantes pour la détermination sexuelle de l'os coxal, l'objectif est de proposer de nouvelles fonctions en simplifiant le choix de variables qui tiennent compte du principe de fiabilité. 402 os coxaux humains d'adultes de sexe connu de deux populations européennes, française et portugaise sont étudiés. Seules trois fonctions se révèlent fiables avec une précision supérieure à 90 % (celles de Novotný, 1975 ; de Bruzek, 1984 ; de Schulter-Ellis étal, 1985) ; les deux dernières donnent dans les deux échantillons réunis une diagnose sexuelle correcte, supérieure à 95 %. Selon nos résultats, la fiabilité des fonctions dépend donc de la sélection et de la répartition des variables par rapport aux trois segments morpho-fonctionnels de l'os coxal (segments ischio-pubien, acétabulaire et sacro-iliaque), ainsi que de l'erreur intra- et inter-observateur. La comparaison de 21 fonctions nouvelles démontre que le succès du classement supérieur à 95 % est identique dans chaque série comme dans l'échantillon regroupant les deux séries., Bruzek Jaroslav. Fiabilité des fonctions discriminantes dans la détermination sexuelle de l'os coxal. Critiques et propositions.. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 4 fascicule 1-2, 1992. pp. 67-104.

International audience; The southern Mediterranean Levant has attracted the attention of the scientific community since the early excavations conducted at the beginning of the 20th century on several sites, which provided a significant sample of Upper Pleistocene hominids. Additional skeletal material, circumscribed geographically and chronologically, raises several questions concerning the biological differences and similarities between the hominid samples represented, and their geographical position at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia. The excellent state of preservation of the hominid remains enables a new insight into the anatomy of Levantine Middle Palaeolithic populations and provides important data for reconstructing the pattern of human evolution in the Near East. With this in view, re-examination of some skeletal remains recovered at Kebara Cave suggests. that biological differences and similarities may have existed between Neanderthals and Levantine Middle Palaeolithic hominids, strengthening the existence of regional variation.; Dès les premières découvertes de fossiles humains provenant du Bassin Méditerranéen oriental et datés du Pléistocène supérieur, il est apparu évident que la documentation anthropologique illustrait une hétérogénéité biologique, suscitant des interprétations différentes. Par la suite, l'enrichissement de la documentation avec de nouvelles fouilles est venu alimenter, au sein de la communauté scientifique, les discussions portant aussi bien sur les affinités phylogénétiques des fossiles que sur leur position chronologique. La prise en compte, sur ces fossiles proche-orientaux, de l'originalité de l'assemblage de caractères anatomiques présents ne doit pas être sous-estimée pour une meilleure évaluation des composantes régionales. C'est ce qui est proposé à propos de Kebara, l'objectif étant de favoriser une approche cohérente de la diversité biologique des hommes du Paléolithique moyen dans la région, qui n'exclut pas les influences extra-européennes.

Once a body is completely decomposed, it is necessary to determine sex from the skeleton. The hip bone is the most reliable indicator for sex determination because the pattern of sexual dimorphism is common to the whole human race. Two reliable visual methods are suggested to assess sex from the hip bone. However, the authors recommend the use of a method based on discriminant function analysis including a probabilistic approach that the authors recently developed with a large sample of known-sex individuals. The population specificity of sexual dimorphism of the other parts of the skeleton is also discussed. The authors particularly insist on the inherent limits of discriminant functions on extrapelvic measurements.

International audience; Age at death and sex diagnosis of the Cro-Magnon fossils (Dordogne, France) based on the pelvic bone. This paper concerns the sex and age at death estimation of the Gravettian skeletons from Cro-Magnon site (Dordogne, France). Methods based on pelvic bone and probabilistic approach have been used. These methods have been tested elsewhere and provide a high accuracy level for sex and age determination. This analysis shows without ambiguity that two adults are male (hip bone 4315, 4315–4318), one is a female (pelvic bone 4316). The sex diagnosis of the last (pelvic bone 4317) is indeterminate. As the adult female is aged (more 50 years), she cannot be the mother of the newborn identified in the burial place.; Cette note concerne la détermination de l'âge au décès et du sexe des fossiles gravettiens de l'abri Cro-Magnon en Dordogne, à partir de nouvelles méthodes fondées sur l'os coxal. L'approche développée est une approche probabiliste, dont la fiabilité très élevée a été testée par ailleurs. L'analyse démontre que, parmi les quatre adultes identifiés, deux sont de sexe masculin (4315, 4315–4318), tandis qu'un est de sexe féminin (4316). Le sexe du quatrième (4317) est indéterminé. Trois sujets (4314, 4315 4316) ont dépassé 50 ans. La seule femme identifiée avec certitude est âgée d'au moins 50 ans, voire de plus de 60 ans. Elle ne peut ainsi être la mère du nouveau-né identifié à côté des adultes.

International audience; Determination of the sex of human bone remains represents a crucial stage in any palaeoanthropological study. The palaeobiological or palaeoethnological interpretations depend on its reliability. It is acknowledged that the adult hip-bone (os coxae) is by far the best non-population-specific indicator for reliable sex determination of adults. However, we clarify here a certain number of limitations which lower the reliability and ease of application of the usual methods. We propose a new tool—Probabilistic Sex Diagnosis (DSP: Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste)—based on a worldwide hip-bone metrical database (2040 adult specimens of known sex from 12 different reference populations). Sex is determined by comparing the specimen's measurements to those from the database and by computing the individual probability of being female or male, from any combination of at least four variables among ten. This method is very easy to learn and apply; it provides sex diagnosis for any anatomically modern human, whatever population the specimen belongs to. Numerous combinations allow sex diagnosis of either well—preserved hip-bones or damaged ones. DSP is thus useful for both archaeological and forensic purposes. Its accuracy is close to 100%. The DSP computing program is available at the following web link: http://www.pacea.u-bordeaux1.fr/publication/dspv1.html; La détermination du sexe à partir des restes osseux humains représente une étape cruciale de toute étude paléoanthropologique. De sa fiabilité dépend la pertinence des interprétations paléobiologiques ou palethnologiques. Il est admis que l'os coxal mature est le meilleur indicateur, non spécifique à une population, pour réaliser une diagnose sexuelle fiable. Cependant, nous explicitons ici un certain nombre de limites qui abaissent la fiabilité et la facilité d'application des méthodes usuelles. Nous proposons un nouvel outil de Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste (DSP) basé sur les données métriques de l'os coxal, à partir d'un échantillon intégrant la variabilité mondiale (2040 os coxaux adultes provenant de 12 échantillons de référence). Le sexe d'un spécimen est déterminé à partir de n'importe quelle combinaison d'au moins quatre variables parmi dix, en calculant la probabilité individuelle d'appartenir au groupe masculin ou féminin de la base de données. Cet outil est d'un emploi très simple et est applicable à tout Homme anatomiquement moderne, quelle que soit son origine. Les nombreuses combinaisons disponibles permettent de déterminer le sexe de la plupart des os coxaux, même mal préservés. Son application concerne tant la recherche archéologique que la médecine légale. La méthode se révèle très fiable, avec un taux de détermination correcte proche de 100 %. Le logiciel est téléchargeable à l'adresse : http://www.pacea.u-bordeaux1.fr/publication/dspv1.html

Interobserver variation in visual evaluation was analyzed for 10 cranial traits in a homogeneous archaeological series. Two observers independently scored cranial traits commonly used for determination of sex. Though determination of sex did not differ significantly for the two observers, individual traits had different levels of interobserver reliability. In addition, indices of relative "maleness" and "femaleness" derived by the two observers differed at statistically significant levels. Because such indices are used in cross-population comparisons of relative gracility and robusticity of diverse samples, these comparisons should be interpreted with caution when more than one investigator has performed an assessment. Most of our instances of interobserver discordance derived from character traits described in subjective terms without accompanying diagrams. Clarity of definition, rather than number of character traits, was found to be critical for effective determination of sex by the visual assessment method. Use of fewer, more precisely defined character traits can improve interobserver reliability.

Adult age-at-death assessment is one of the most difficult problem encountered in paleoanthropology. Many procedures have been proposed using either skeletal remains or dental records, but most show systematic bias. Data processing of current methods are a source of error because they neglect that process of biological ageing is very variable between individuals and populations. The aim of this study is to test the potentiality of artificial neural networks (ANN) as a prediction tool. ANN have been used for a wide variety of applications where statistical methods are traditionally employed. But it performs better to solve linearly non separable patterns. We applied this technique after observation of several features' aging changes of the pubic symphysis and the auricular surface of the ilium. Although we failed to reduce the size of the intermediate class (30-59 years), the neural network identifies, with better reliability than previous works, the youngest (20-29 years) and the oldest (above 60 years) individuals.

A new visual method for the determination of sex using the human hip bone (os coxae) is proposed, based on a revision of several previous approaches which scored isolated characters of this bone. The efficacy of the methodology is tested on a sample of 402 adults of known sex and age of French and Portuguese origins. With the simultaneous use of five characters of the hip bone, it is possible to provide a correct sexual diagnosis in 95% of all cases, with an error of 2% and an inability to identify sex in only 3%. The advantage of this new method is a reduction in observer subjectivity, since the evaluation procedure cannot involve any anticipation of the result. In addition, this method of sex determination increases the probability of a correct diagnosis with isolated fragments of the hip bone, provided that a combination of elements of one character is found to be typically male or female.

Les reseaux de neurones artificiels sont tres peu utilises en anthropologie biologique, alors que leur application est en plein essor dans de nombreuses disciplines. Ils constituent, entre autre, une alternative interessante aux statistiques traditionnelles pour le traitement des donnees. Cette note explique les notions cles du fonctionnement des RNA et plus particulierement du perceptron multi-couches et decrit quelques applications analogues a certaines problematiques de l’anthropologie biologique.

Through personal observations and a literature study we have made a synthesis of the most ancient healed trephinations in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin. Cases of small dimensions that were carried out with simple techniques are found in the Mesolithic populations from North Africa, Ukraine and Portugal. The first Neolithic examples of trephinations are extensive and have been realised with more sophisticated techniques. This suggests that the development of agriculture was accompanied by the command of new procedures in the field of surgery. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VJ3-42VM9MY-8/1/67dcf2f089abb7c7a878392eb1dfc3c0

Accurate determination of sex in skeletal human samples is very important in anthropological and demographic studies. Recently, Loth and Henneberg 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, Neanderthals and Upper palaeolithic hominids) apparently confirmed the high reliability of the MRPF as a sex indicator ‘over time and through palaeospecies’. As the pelvis is commonly considered as providing the most significant criteria that allows the establishment of skeletal sexual dimorphism of adults, the present paper evaluates this mandibular feature on a few additional palaeolithic hominids (i.e. Neanderthals 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. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Summary. — For three characters of the sacroiliac surface of the hip bone, evaluated in two samples of known sex, one of us obtained approximately 85 % of results which agreed. We tested this new technique of sexual diagnosis by studying these characters on imprints of the sacroiliac surface of subjects of known sex. Three persons realised morphological observations on two series of successive observations, so as to judge intra- and inter-observer error. With this analysis, we discuss the pertinence of each character and the concordance of the diagnosis when the three characters are combined. The initial diagram of each character evaluation has been modified, thus allowing us to present a new technique for sex determination using hip-bone fragments. Supported by supplementary analyses (application to many subjects of known sex, multiplication of observers. . .), this technique would widen the range of essential methods in palaeobiological studies., Résumé. — Pour trois caractères de la face sacro-pelvienne de l'os coxal, évalués dans deux échantillons de sexes connus, l'un de nous a réussi à obtenir environ 85 % de résultats concordants avec le sexe réel. Nous avons testé cette nouvelle approche de diagnose sexuelle en étudiant ces caractères sur des empreintes de la face sacro-pelvienne de sujets de sexe connu. Les observations morphologiques ont été réalisées par trois personnes et sur deux séries d'observations successives afin de juger de l'erreur intra- et inter-observateur. À partir de cette analyse, nous discutons la pertinence de chaque caractère et la concordance de la diagnose lorsque les trois caractères sont combinés. Le schéma initial de l'évaluation de chaque caractère a été modifié, ce qui nous permet de présenter ici un nouveau procédé d'estimation du sexe à partir de fragments osseux du bassin. Etayé par des analyses supplémentaires (application à plusieurs séries de sexe connu, multiplication des observateurs), ce procédé sera alors susceptible d'élargir la gamme des méthodes essentielles à toutes études paléobiologiques., Bruzek Jaroslav, Castex Dominique, Majó Tona. Évaluation des caractères morphologiques de la face sacro-pelvienne de l'os coxal. Proposition d'une nouvelle méthode de diagnose sexuelle. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 8 fascicule 3-4, 1996. pp. 491-502.

Sex estimation is the first step for biological profile reconstruction of an unknown skeleton (archaeological or contemporary) and consequently for positive identification of skeletal remains recovered from forensic settings. Several tools have been developed using different osseous structures. With the intention to provide an objective method comparison, we reported the analysis of three different methods (visual, metric and geometric morphometrics) for sex assessment of the greater sciatic notch. One hundred and thirty pelvic bones (45.4% females and 54.6% males) from the National Autonomous University of Mexico Skeletal Collection pertaining to the contemporary Mexican population were analyzed.We used the ROC-analysis to test between desired false positive thresholds (1-specificity) and expected true positive rates (sensitivity) in order to predict the best approach to sex assessment. The comparison of the area under the ROC-curves shows significant differences among visual and metric methods. At the same time, the analysis suggested that higher morphological variation among the sexes is independent of the methodological approach.The results indicate that the metric (angle), with a high percent of indeterminate cases (34.6%), and visual, with 26.2% of the cases allocated as intermediate cases, were poorly accurate; we cannot recommend these techniques for sexing an unknown specimen. On the other hand, the geometric morphometrics approach improves sex estimation in 82.3% of correctly classified individuals with more than 95% of posterior probability.In addition to the method comparison, the major sexual variation of the greater sciatic notch was determined to be located on its posterior border. Fil: Gómez Valdés, Jorge A.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México Fil: Quinto Sanchez, Mirsha Emmanuel. Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia; México. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Menéndez Garmendia, Antinea. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México Fil: Veleminska, Jana. Charles University; República Checa Fil: Sánchez Mejorada, Gabriela. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México Fil: Bruzek, Jaroslav. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México. Universite de Bordeaux; Francia

— A distribution free method for estimating centiles in growth studies was applied to cranial measurements which were collected from the study of a sample of 426 immature individuals (Hanákova et al, 1984) excavated in a middle-age Slovak cemetery The smoothed centile growth curves obtained provide evidence of differences in patterns of growth between the neuro- and splanchno-cranium. In addition most of the measurements concerning the neurocranium exhibit a large range of variation during growth. Therefore the estimation of individual ages at death of non- adults based upon cranial measurements is questionned. An attempt to compare the recent data to those collected from a sample of Upper Palaeolithic immature individuals was made in order to establish a growth model for the prehistoric population. From this analysis it appears that, within the Upper Palaeolithic sample, cranial measurements are not accurately age-related criteria. Individual variations not related to age in cranial dimensions are obvious within recent and past populations and put into question the use/misuse of cranial dimensions for the estimation of age., Résumé. — A partir de données craniométriques issues d'une nécropole médiévale slovaque, portant sur 426 sujets immatures (Hanákova et al, 1984), des courbes de croissance sont établies par une méthode statistique empirique avec remodelage par lissage. Ces courbes de croissance exprimées en percentiles mettent en évidence la différence de croissance entre le neurocrâne et le splanchnocrâne. Elles montrent également l'importante dispersion des valeurs pour la plupart des mesures du crâne cérébral. Cette variation rend aléatoire toute détermination de l'âge au décès d'un sujet immature à partir de dimensions crâniennes. Les profils craniométriques des enfants d'un gisement du Paléolithique supérieur sont comparés avec les résultats obtenus pour illustrer l'importance de la variation biologique au cours de la croissance dans une population ancienne et le risque d'une attribution erronée de l'âge des individus isolés à partir des dimensions crâniennes., Juricic Michel, Bruzek Jaroslav, Charlet Jean-Paul, Tillier Anne-Marie. Dynamique de la croissance du crâne. L'exemple de la population médiévale de Ducove (Slovaquie). Application a l'échantillon fossile de Predmostí (paléolithique supérieur, République tchèque). In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 6 fascicule 1-2, 1994. pp. 85-99.

— The developmental stage of the coxal bones from Sungir 2 and Sungir 3 (Upper Paleolithic, Russia) is discussed relatively to the age and sex estimated from the skull. The polynomial regression of the pelvic measurements collected from recent samples (60 immatures and 162 adults) are employed to establish their stage of growth. The results indicate a prepuberal age for Sungir 2 and Sungir 3. The stature of the two individuals can not be used to support an individual age more than 13 years., Résumé. — L'état de développement de l'os coxal des fossiles de Sungir 2 et Sungir 3 (Paléolithique supérieur de Russie) est discuté par rapport aux âges et aux sexes déterminés àpartir des crânes. L'analyse s'appuie sur des données morphologiques et pour la comparaison nous avons employé la régression polynomiale des données métriques obtenues dans des séries actuelles (60 individus immatures et 162 adultes). Selon les résultats, les enfants Sungir 2 et 3, en dépit de leur stature élevée correspondent à stade prépubertaire et d'après des standards actuels, ils n'ont pas dépassé 13 ans., Bruzek Jaroslav, Novotny Vladimir. Diagnostic auxologique de l'os coxal des enfants de Sungir 2 et 3 (Paléolithique supérieur, Russie). In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 5 fascicule 1-2, 1993. pp. 151-158.

Majó Tona, Tillier Anne-Marie, Bruzek Jaroslav. Bis repetita placent. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 6 fascicule 1-2, 1994. pp. 117-118.