Human Humerus Sexdetermination-An Osteometric Study

The humerus has rarely been tapped as a site for sex determination, though it has often demonstrated an even greater accuracy than other long bones such as the femur. Determination of sex is of medico legal importance and also useful to establish the identity in archaeological explorations. It is an attempt to connect to the peace of information in human evolution. Almost all bones of the human skeleton show some degree of sexual dimorphism. It is recognized that long bone cross-sectional area is greater in males compared to females, which is tough to reflect more rapid periosteal bone growth in boys. In the present study we were collected 100 dry human humeri of unknown sex from different medical institutions and Anthropology department of S.V University, Tirupati.Each humerus was measured for 14 parameters by using Osteometric board and sliding caliper and recorded the values. In the previous studies authors did not analyze possible differences among population related to relationship between total humeral length and the measurements of their segments. The present study reveals that humeri of unknown gender can be sexed to the extent of 75-80% by using above mentioned parameters.