What a Skeleton Can Tell Us:

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• What a Skeleton Can Tell Us
• Age
• Gender
• How?

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As a person ages
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• The cartilage that we a born with ossifies (turns
  into bone)
• The skull changes shape
• Sexual distinctions on the skeletons become more
  apparent in adult than in children
• Bones become less dense from age 30 on

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Neonate (Newborns)

• Fontanelles are the soft spots in the cranium
• Slide to allow the child to fit out of the birth
  canal easily during birth process
• Head is large relative to the size of the body
• Eye sockets are very large in comparison to the
  rest of the head
• Teeth sockets are clearly cartilaginous
• Teeth are smooth
• Nasal bones are a bit flatter than those of an
  adult

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Scull of a 2 1/2 year old child
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• Fontanelles are ossified
• Head is still large relative to the size of the
  body
• Eye sockets are still large in comparison to the
  rest of the head
• Teeth sockets are more fully formed
• Teeth are more adult-like
• Nasal bones are more prominent that those of a
  neonate

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5 year old child
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• Eye sockets are still large in comparison to the
  rest of the head
• Teeth sockets are more fully formed
• Teeth are more adult-like
• Nasal bones are more prominent that those of a
  neonate

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5 yr old 10 yr old
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10 year old child

• Most permanent teeth are erupted
• Skull is proportional to body size as in an adult

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Adult Skull
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Determining age from a skull alone

• Rate at which cranial sutures close
• Eruption of permanent teeth

Determining age from a skeleton

• Rate at which ossification of epiphysis occurs
• Rate at which epiphyseal plate ossification
  occurs

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Differences Between Males and Females
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• (Feminists be darned women really are different
  from menwell, at least their skeletons are...)

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Why do these differences exist?
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• Why do these differences exist? Because of
  estrogen/ testosterone these affect musculature
  as well
• Why are they not 100 reliable? Because there is
  overlap in what is considered normal (average
  ranges due to size of the adult)

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Accuracy of Sex Distinction
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• 95 using the pelvis alone
• 92 using the skull alone
• 90 using the mandible alone
• 80 using the legs alone

Data is for caucasians lower success for other
ethnic groups-
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General Differences
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• Female
• lighter bones
• smoother bones
• smaller bones
• more narrow shoulders
• smaller ribcage
• more rounded bones

• Male
• heavier bones
• rougher bones
• larger bones
• broader shoulders
• larger ribcage
• more angular bones

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Male Female
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Legs
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• Male
• greater diameter
• longer length
• markings more prominent
• heavier

• Female
• smaller in diameter
• shorter in length
• markings are less prominent
• lighter

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Cranium
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• Female
• cranium mass smaller and rounder tapers at the
  top
• supraorbital ridge rounder and more smooth
• zygomatic less pronounced
• forehead slopes less
• smaller teeth
• rounder mandible

• Male
• cranial mass larger and blockier
• supraorbital ridge sharper
• zygomatic more pronounced
• forehead slopes more
• larger teeth
• pointier mandible

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Cranium Continued
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• Female
• mastoid process small
• back of jawbone slants
• zygomatic process pushes out less to the side
• external occipital protuberance absent

• Male
• mastoid process (bone behind ear) larger
• back of jawbone is straight
• Zygomatic process extends out further to the side
• external occipital protuberance present

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Male skulls
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Female Skull
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Face

• Differences in the
• chin
• jaw
• cheekbones
• as noted in the cranium section

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Which is which? Why?
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Site 1
Site 2

• Forensic Artistry Using the Skull to Get an
  Image of the Person
• start by marking the skull with depth markers
• add clay to flesh out the face
• add finishing touches hair, eyes- these may not
  be accurate

The Technique
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Male pelvis
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Female pelvis
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(No Transcript)
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Pelvis

• Male
• More massive, rougher, heavier
• Upper end of pelvis less tilted
• Deeper bowl
• Longer, more narrow and curved sacrum
• Coccyx more vertical, less moveable

• Female
• lighter, smoother, more delicate, thicker
• upper end of pelvis more tilted
• more shallow bowl
• sacrum shorter, less of a curvature
• coccyx less vertical, moveable, tilted backward

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Pelvis, continued

• Female
• more flared
• oval/ round pelvic inlet, larger
• shorter more moveable pubic symphosis
• angle of pubic arch over 100 degree
• acetebulum more out to the side

• Male
• less flared
• heart shaped and smaller pelvic inlet
• longer, less moveable pubic symphosis
• angle of pubic arch less than 90 degrees
• acetebulum more under hips

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Which is which? Why?
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Activity Level

• Active/ athletic people
• heavier bones with more pronounced ridges for
  muscle attachment less likely to be round and
  smooth

• Inactive People
• lighter, less dense bones with less pronounced
  ridges much more likely to be smoother and more
  rounded bones

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Chinese Foot Binding

• http//library.thinkquest.org/J0111742/footbinding
  .htm

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Chinese Foot Binding

• http//www.historyforkids.org/crafts/china/footbin
  ding.htm

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Neck stretching with rings
http//library.thinkquest.org/J0111742/neckanimati
on.htm

• Typical neck stretched neck