Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sex estimation by third metatarsals in human fossil and recent populations

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Estimating the sex of human individuals using linear variables from long bones, like foot bones, can be a good choice when no cranium or pelvic bones are available or they are compromisingly damaged. In this study, we used 17 linear variables measured on the third metatarsal in a contemporary human population to calculate discriminant equations. Later, these equations were used to estimate the sex of other known sex and unknown sex fossil individuals of different Homo genus species. A total of 128 equations were calculated with a subsample of the contemporary population, 31 of which were ultimately used. This set of formulae comprised both univariate and multivariate equations. The obtained formulae were tested on a subsample of the original population and later on a medieval external population. The accuracy of these formulae varies greatly, but it is higher for the multivariate than for the univariate ones, and also it decreases significantly in the external population. The equations’ accuracy for fossil populations varies greatly depending on the specific population: they are better at estimating sex for Palaeolithic Homo sapiens and less accurate for ancestral species of the genus Homo. Four fossils of previously unknown sex have been estimated with a significant level of confidence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alonso-Llamazares C, Pablos A (2019) Sex estimation from the calcaneus and talus using discriminant function analysis and its possible application in fossil remain. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11:4927–4946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arsuaga JL, Carretero JM, Lorenzo C, Gómez-Olivencia A, Pablos A, Rodríguez L, García-González R, Bonmatí A, Quam RM, Pantoja-Pérez A, Martínez I, Aranburu A, Gracia-Téllez A, Poza-Rey E, Sala N, García N, Alcázar de Velasco A, Cuenca-Bescós G, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Carbonell E (2015) Postcranial morphology of the middle Pleistocene humans from Sima de los Huesos, Spain. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:11524–11529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baba H, Endo B (1982) Postcranial skeleton of the Minatogawa man. The Upper Pleistocene Man from the Island of Okinawa. The University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp 61–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidmos M, Asala S (2005) Calcaneal measurement in estimation of stature of South African blacks. Am J Phys Anthropol 126:335–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bidmos MA, Adebesin AA, Mazengenya P, Olateju OI, Adegboye O (2021) Estimation of sex from metatarsals using discriminant function and logistic regression analyses. Aust J Forensic Sci 53:543–556

  • Billy G (1969) Le squelette post-crânien de l’Homme de Chancelade. L’Anthropologie 73:207–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Billy G (1975) Étude anthropologique des restes humains de l’Abri Pataud, excavation of the Abri Pataud Les Eyzies (Dordogne). Harvard University, Cambridge, pp 201–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Bräuer G (1988) Osteometrie. In: Martin R, Knuβman R (eds) Anthropologie. Handbuch der vergleichenden Biologie des menschen. Fisher, Stuttgart, pp 160–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown P, Sutikna T, Morwood MJ, Soejono RP, Saptomo EW, AweDue R (2004) A new small-bodied hominin from the late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature 431:1055–1061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers S, Akoshima K, Curran B (1989) Determination of adult stature from metatarsal length. Am J Phys Anthropol 79:275–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carretero JM, Quam RM, Gómez-Olivencia A, Castilla M, Rodríguez L, García-González R (2015) The Magdalenian human remains from El Mirón Cave, Cantabria. J Archaeol Sci 60:10–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Case DT, Ross AH (2007) Sex determination from hand and foot bone lengths. J Forensic Sci 52:264–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casillas JA, Adán G (2005) La actuación arqueológica en el “Solar de Caballería” y el Convento de San Pablo de Burgos. Instituto Municipal de Cultura, Ayuntamiento de Burgos

    Google Scholar 

  • Corrain C (1977) I resti scheletrici della sepoltura epigravettiana del “Riparo Tagliente” in Valpantena (Verona). Bollettino Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona 4:35–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Courtaud P (1989) Deux os du pied provenant des niveaux mousteriens de la grotte de Kebara (Israel). Bull Mém Soc Anthropol Paris 1:45–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiMichele DL, Spradley MK (2012) Sex estimation in a modern American osteological sample using a discriminant function analysis from the calcaneus. Forensic Sci Int 221:152.e1–152.e5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estepa-Diez C, Valdeon-Baruque JV (1984) Burgos en la Edad Media. Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Educación y Cultura, Burgos

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabunia L, Vekua A, Lordkipanidze D (1999) A hominid metatarsal from Dmanisi (Eastern Georgie). Anthropologie (Brno) 37:163–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerli ME (2003) Medieval Iberia: an encyclopaedia. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Griel AE, Kris-Etherton PM, Hilpert KF, Zhao G, West SG, Corwin RL (2017) An increase in dietary n-3 fatty acids decreases a marker of bone resorption in humans. Nutr J 6:2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt-Smith WEH, Throckmorton Z, Congdon KA, Zipfel B, Deane AS, Drapeau MSM, Churchill SE, Berger LR, DeSilva JM (2015) The foot of Homo naledi. Nature Communications 6:8432

  • Herrmann B, Grupe G, Hummel S, Piepenbrink H, Schutkowski H (1990) Prähistorische Anthropologie. Leitfaden der Feld-und Labormethoden. Springer Verlag, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jackes M, Lubell D (1992) The Early Neolithic human remains from Gruta do Caldeirão, Trabalhos de Arqueologia 6. Instituto Português do Patrimonio Cultural, Lisboa, pp 259–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Jungers WL, Larson SG, Harcourt-Smith WEH, Morwood MJ, Sutikna T, Awe Due R, Djubiantono T (2009) Descriptions of the lower limb skeleton of Homo floresiensis. J Hum Evol 57:538–554

  • Karakostis FA, Lorenzo C (2016) Morphometric patterns among the 3D surface areas of human hand entheses. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:694–707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lordkipanidze D, Jashashvili T, Vekua A, Ponce de Leon M, Zollikofer CPE, Rightmire GP, Pontzer H, Ferring R, Oms O, Tappen M, Bukhsianidze M, Agustí J, Kahlke R, Kiladze G, Martínez-Navarro B, Mouskhelishvili A, Nioradze M, Rook L (2007) Postcranial evidence from early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. Nature 449:305–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzo C, Arsuaga JL, Carretero JM (1999) Hand and foot remains from the gran Dolina Early Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). J Hum Evol 37:501–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin R, Saller K (1957) Lehrbuch der Anthropologie, Third edn. Gustav Fisher, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  • Matiegka J (1938)Homo předmostensis, fosilníčlověk z PředmostínaMoravě 2. Českáakademievěd a umění, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • McCown TD, Keith A (1939) The Stone Age of Mount Carmel. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Mensforth RP, Latimer BM (1989)Hamann-Todd collection aging studies: osteoporosis fracture syndrome. Am J Phys Anthropol 80(4):461–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mersey B, Jabbour RS, Brudvik K, Defleur A (2013) Neanderthal hand and foot remains from Moula-Guercy, Ardèche, France. Am J Phys Anthropol 152:516–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mijares AS, Détroit F, Piper P, Grün R, Bellwood P, Aubert M, Champion G, Cuevas N, De Leon A, Dizon E (2010) New evidence for a 67,000-year-old human presence at Callao Cave, Luzon, Philippines. J Hum Evol 59:123–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montenegro-Duque A (1987) Historia de Burgos: Edad Media, Volumen 2, Parte 2. Caja de Ahorros Municipal de Burgos

  • Mountrakis C, Eliopoulos C, Koilias C, Manolis S (2010) Sex determination using metatarsal osteometrics from the Athens collection. Forensic Sci Int 200(178):e1–e7

    Google Scholar 

  • Niven JE (2007) Brains, islands and evolution: breaking all the rules. Trends Ecol Evol 22:57–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pablos A, Lorenzo C, Martínez I, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Martinón-Torres M, Carbonell E, Arsuaga JL (2012) New foot remains from the Gran Dolina-TD6 Early Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 63:610–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pablos A, Gómez-Olivencia A, García-Pérez A, Martínez I, Lorenzo C, Arsuaga JL (2013) From toe to head: use of robust regression methods in stature estimation based on foot remains. Forensic Sci Int 226:299.e1–299.e7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pablos A, Martínez I, Lorenzo C, Sala N, Gracia-Téllez A, Arsuaga JL (2014) Human calcanei from the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 76:63–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pablos A, Pantoja-Pérez A, Martínez I, Lorenzo C, Arsuaga JL (2017) Metric and morphological analysis of the foot in the Middle Pleistocene population of Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). Quat Int 433:103–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pablos A, Gómez-Olivencia A, Maureille B, Holliday TW, Madelaine S, Trinkaus E, Couture-Veschambre C (2019a) Neandertal foot remains from Regourdou 1 (Montignac-sur-Vézère, Dordogne, France). J Hum Evol 128:17–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pablos A, Gómez-Olivencia A, Arsuaga JL (2019b) A Neandertal foot phalanx from the Galería de las Estatuas site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). Am J Phys Anthropol 168:222–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paoli G, Parenti R, Sergi S (1980) Gli scheletri mesolitici della caverna delle Arene Candide (Liguria). Memoria dell’Instituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana 3:33–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Pap I, Tillier AM, Arensburg B, Chech M (1996) The Subalyuk Neanderthal remains (Hungary): a reexamination. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 88:253–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Patte E (1968) L’homme et la femme de l’Azilien de Saint-Rabier. Mémoires du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle 19:1–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson OM, Royer DF, Grine FE, Fleagle JG (2008) A description of the Omo I postcranial skeleton, including newly discovered fossils. J Hum Evol 55(3):421–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson OM, Pablos A, Rak Y, Hovers E (2020) A partial Neandertal foot from the late Middle Palaeolithic of Amud cave, Israel. PaleoAnthropol 2020:98–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Peckmann TR, Orr K, Meek S, Manolis SK (2015) Sex determination from the calcaneus in a 20th century Greek population using discriminant function analysis. Sci Just 55:377–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pontzer H, Rolian C, Rightmire GP, Jashashvili T, Ponce de León MS, Lordkipanidze D, Zollikofer CPE (2010) Locomotor anatomy and biomechanics of the Dmanisi hominins. J Hum Evol 58:492–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quam RM, Arsuaga JL, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Díez JC, Lorenzo C, Carretero JM, García N, Ortega AI (2001) Human remains from Valdegoba Cave (Huérmeces, Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 41:385–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruff CB, Holt BM, Niskanen M, Sladék V, Berner M, Garofalo E, Garvin HM, Hora M, Maijanen H, Niinimäki S, Salo K, Schuplerová E, Tompkins D (2012) Stature and body mass estimation from skeletal remains in the European Holocene. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:601–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruff CB, Burgess ML, Squyres N, Junno J-A, Trinkaus E (2018) Lower limb articular scaling and body mass estimation in Pliocene and Pleistocene hominins. J Hum Evol 115:85–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheuer L (2002) Application of osteology to forensic medicine. Clin Anat 15:297–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seale LA, Ogawa-Wong AN, Berry MJ (2018) Sexual dimorfism in selenium metabolims and selenoproteins. Free Radic Biol Med 127:198–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shang H, Trinkaus E (2010) The early modern human from Tianyuan Cave, China. Texas A & M University Press Anthropology Series: n° 14, Texas

    Google Scholar 

  • Sládek V, Trinkaus E, Hillson SW, Holliday TW (2000) The people of the Pavlovian. Skeletal catalogue and osteometrics of the Gravetian fossil hominids from DolníVĕstonice and Pavlov. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Archaeology, Brno

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele DG (1976) The estimation of sex on the basis of the talus and calcaneus. Am J Phys Anthropol 45:581–588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susman RL, de Ruiter DJ, Brain CK (2001) Recently identified postcranial remains of Paranthropus and early Homo from Swartkrans Cave, South Africa. J Hum Evol 41:607–629

  • Trancho GJ, Robledo B, López-Bueis I, Sánchez JA (1997) Sexual determination of the femur using discriminant functions. Analysis of a Spanish population of known sex and age. J Forensic Sci 42:181–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E (1975) A functional analysis of the Neandertal foot. PhD Thesis. University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania

  • Trinkaus E (1983) The Shanidar Neandertals. Academic Press, New York

  • Trinkaus E (2000) The human remains from Paviland Cave. Late Pleistocene and Holocene human remains from Paviland Cave. Aldhouse-Green, S. (Ed.), Paviland Cave

  • Trinkaus E (2003) Gough’s Cave 1 (Somerset, England): a study of the pelvis and lower limbs. Bull Nat Hist Mus. Geology Series 58:1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E (2005) Early modern humans. Annu Rev Anthropol 34:207–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E (2015) The appendicular skeletal remains of Oberkassel 1 and 2. In: Giemsch L, Schmitz RW (eds) The late glacial burial from Oberkassel revisited. VerlagPhillip von Zabern, Darmstadt, pp 75–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E (2016) The Krapina human postcranial remains: morphology, morphometrics and paleopathology. FF Press, Zagreb (Croatia)

    Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E (2018) Epipaleolithic human appendicular remains from EinGev I, Israel. Comptes Rendus Palevol 17:616–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E, Jelínek J (1997) Human remains from the Moravian Gravettian: the Dolní Vĕstonice 3 postcrania. J Hum Evol 33:33–82

  • Trinkaus E, Stewart TD (1980) The Shanidar 3 Neanderthal: a fragmentary skeleton from Shanidar Cave, northern Iraq. Sumer 9:9–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E, Smith FH, Stockton TC, Shackelford LL (2006) The human postcranial remains from Mladeč. In: Teschler-Nicola M (ed) Early modern humans at the Moravian Gate. The Mladeč Caves and their remains. Springer-Verlag, Vienna, pp 385–445

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E, Buzhilova AP, Mednikova MB, Dobrovolskaya MV (2014) The people of Sunghir: burials, bodies, and behavior in the earlier Upper Palaeolithic. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Trinkaus E, Wotjal P, Wilczyński J, Sázelová S, Svoboda J (2017) Palmar, patellar and pedal human remains from Pavlov. PaleoAnthropol, pp 73–101

  • Trujillo A, Ordóñez A (2011) Nociones básicas para la determinación del sexo y la edad en restos bioantropológicos. Estrat Crític: Revista d’Arqueologia 6:134–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Ubelaker DH (1978) Human skeletal remains excavation, analysis, interpretation. IL Aldine Publishing, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandermeersch B (1981) Les hommes fossiles de Qafzeh (Israel). CNRS, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker MJ, Ortega J, López MV, Parmová K, Trinkaus E (2011) Neandertal postcranial remains from the Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, Murcia, southeastern Spain. Am J Phys Anthropol 144:505–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wippert PM, Rector M, Kuhn G, Wuertz-Kozak K (2017) Stress and alterations in bones: an interdisciplinary perspective. Front Endocrinol 8:96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zengin A, Pye SR, Cook MJ, Adams JE, Wu FC, O’Neill TW, Ward KA (2016) Ethnic differences in bone geometry between White, Black and South Asian men in the UK. Bone 91:180–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The availability of the huge comparative collection, both modern and fossil, would not have been possible without the help and collaboration of multiple institutions and people who allowed access to important collections under their care and kindly provided assistance. Special thanks to Y. Haile-Selassie and L. Jellema of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) for access to the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection; J. M. Carretero of the University of Burgos (UBU) for access to the San Pablo Medieval Collection. Thanks to C. Lorenzo and E. Trinkaus for kindly providing some comparative data.

Funding

This research has received support in part from the “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCI)” of Spain (ProjectsPGC2018-093925-B-C33 and PGC2018-093925-B-C31; MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, c/ Darwin, 2, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Pablo Castejón-Molina

  2. Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain, Sevilla, Spain

    Adrián Pablos

  3. Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain

    Adrián Pablos

Authors
  1. Pablo Castejón-Molina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adrián Pablos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pablo Castejón-Molina.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix 1

ESM 1

(DOCX 32.9 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Castejón-Molina, P., Pablos, A. Sex estimation by third metatarsals in human fossil and recent populations. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 209 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01441-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01441-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation