Determination of Age and Sex from the Human Clavicle: A Geometric Morphometric Approach

Forensic anthropologists provide law enforcement with a biological profile of unidentifiable decedents using the human skeleton. This profile contains information about the decedent's age, sex, ancestry, and stature. Forensic anthropologists rely on databases containing information from sample populations to develop standards. A number of the standards currently in use were developed using 19th century (or earlier) anatomical and archaeological samples. The goals of this project are is to utilize the UT McCormick Clavicle Collection, a large collection of human clavicles, to investigate secular change in the development of the medial clavicular epiphysis and to provide updated standards for its fusion, determine the age at which significant sexual dimorphism manifests in clavicular morphology and evaluate the most sexually dimorphic dimensions of the clavicle in adults and sub-adults. By using modern samples, this study will provide the forensic community with updated standards for aging and sex determination in adults and sub-adults. ca/ncf