On the systematic bias in skeletal sexing

Abstract

Comparison of a large series of sexed adult skeletal populations and a similar series of adult pre-industrial peoples shows that there is a regular and systematic bias in the sexing of adult skeletons. This bias, which is about 12% in favor of males, is due to the nature of secondary sex characteristics in bone. It should be corrected in skeletal series before demographic analysis is made of them. Application of this knowledge and the same data to problems of age-specific male and female mortality rates is inconclusive, but points to an area for important future investigation. Application to the fossil record confirms some ecological ideas about human evolution.