Validation of the greater sciatic notch sex classification in adults: Multipopulation study

The pelvic bone is the most reliable indicator of sex on the hu- man skeleton, but some of its parts are more susceptible to taphonomic damage, meaning they are often poorly preserved. Conversely, the greater sciatic notch (GSN) belongs to the morphological structures of this bone that are very well preserved, and it also exhibits a high degree of sexual dimorphism. This diploma thesis builds upon the study by Velemínská et al. [2013], which published a sex classifier based on geometric morphometric shape analysis of the curve, with an accuracy of 92% based on two recent population samples (Euro-American and Hispanic). The main goal of the thesis is to build a classifier and validate geo- metric morphometric approach by Velemínská et al. [2013] for the estimation of the biological sex of the GSN in a larger multi-population sample. The methodology was applied to a multi-population sample of pelvic bones from various geographical regions: Euro-American, Hispanic, European, and Asian population sample (total sample size n = 391). The GSN contours were repre- sented with two methods: equidistant semilandmarks and Elliptic Fourier coeffi- cients. Both shape representations were able to capture significant differences in the shape of the GSN between male and female. However, some shape variables seems...