This paper aims to systematically investigate the value of combining traits from different anatomical regions in osteological sexing by contrasting the utility of single traits and established scores with those of ensembles of traits from single or multiple anatomical regions, allowing metric and morphological traits to be combined. The utility was defined as the fraction of the population for whom we could reach a posterior probability above 95% of being male or female. A total of 675 adult individuals from the sixth to eighth century AD cemetery of Mannheim Bösfeld, Germany, were assessed, and 27 postcranial metric traits and 41 morphological traits from the pelvis, mandible, and cranium were used. In addition, 13 metric and 3 morphological scores were considered. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used to construct rules and cross validation to determine accuracy and utility. These parameters were determined for single traits and scores, trait groups defined by anatomical regions and/or previously considered in the literature, and ensembles of traits defined by selecting several promising traits from different anatomical regions. Accuracy of single traits ranged from 0.76 to 0.94, with scores even reaching 0.97, but utility remained around 0.2–0.4 for metric traits and up to 0.6 for morphological traits. Only scores and ensembles combining traits from different anatomical regions reached a utility above 0.7; that is, sex could be estimated in more than 70% of the individuals with a posterior probability above 95%. When selecting a limited number of traits for systematic sexing in a human skeletal series, it is advisable to select traits from different anatomical regions to obtain a reasonably reliable result in as many individuals as possible. Large scale investigations covering all relevant anatomical regions and involving a wide range of populations are required for more precise recommendations.

中文翻译：

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法医和生物考古学中骨学性别鉴定的最佳实践：结合不同解剖区域的度量和形态特征的效用

本文旨在系统地研究组合不同解剖区域的性状在骨学性别鉴定中的价值，通过将单个性状的效用和建立的分数与来自单个或多个解剖区域的性状组合的效用进行对比，从而将度量和形态特征结合起来。效用被定义为我们可以达到95%以上是男性或女性的后验概率的人口比例。对来自德国曼海姆伯斯菲尔德公元 6 至 8 世纪公墓的 675 名成年人进行了评估，并使用了来自骨盆、下颌骨和颅骨的 27 个颅后度量特征和 41 个形态特征。此外，还考虑了 13 个度量和 3 个形态学分数。线性判别分析 (LDA) 用于构建规则和交叉验证以确定准确性和实用性。这些参数是针对单个特征和分数、由解剖区域定义和/或以前在文献中考虑的特征组，以及通过从不同解剖区域选择几个有希望的特征定义的特征集合来确定的。单个性状的准确度在 0.76 到 0.94 之间，分数甚至达到 0.97，但度量性状的效用保持在 0.2-0.4 左右，形态性状的效用高达 0.6。只有结合来自不同解剖区域的特征的分数和集合才能达到 0.7 以上的效用；也就是说，可以估计超过 70% 的个体的性别，其后验概率高于 95%。在为人类骨骼系列中的系统性别鉴定选择有限数量的性状时，建议从不同的解剖区域选择性状，以便在尽可能多的个体中获得合理可靠的结果。需要进行涵盖所有相关解剖区域并涉及广泛人群的大规模调查，以获得更精确的建议。