Preserved until the present time the bones of ancient people can tell a lot about their life and customs. Archaeologists can easily identify their gender by measuring the size of the bones in men and women, they are very different. Unfortunately, this recognition method works only in the case of buried bodies — if they were burnt, bones deformed to such an extent that to determine the sex becomes extremely difficult. It seems that scientists have found a solution to this problem, and soon discoveries about the ancient people will be more.
Earlier Portuguese scientists have found that in the human skeleton there are places that maintain the aspect ratio even after burning. For example, these include the shoulder, heel and femur. By measuring their sizes, the researchers were able to determine the sex of the remains of the modern Portuguese. It was clear that scientists still have much to move, so we decided to look for new dice, is able to indicate the sex of the cremated remains.
It took a team of researchers at the University of Durham under the supervision of Professor Claudio Cavasotto. As samples they took of the burial of the 124 people who lived in the bronze and iron ages — the remains have been discovered in different parts of Italy. By remaining in the graves items like men’s tools and women’s necklaces, they knew their gender. The study revealed that gender also indicate that 24 different parameters like the width of the femoral head and wrist, and the thickness of the jaw.
It is noteworthy that 8 of 24 characteristics helped to determine the gender with an accuracy of more than 80%. The most accurate signs were the diameter of the radius and width of the patella. If you pay attention to the items in the graves, and the size of the bones, the accuracy can reach 100%.
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