Sex Determination Through Mastoid Process among South Indian Skulls by Heron's Formula

Sex determination of human or human skeletal remains is considered an initial step in its identification. In cases of fragmented body, it is difficult to identify the body. The mastoid process characteristics are of great utility in the diagnosis of sex. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance for sex determination by the measurement of the area formed by 3 craniometric points related to the mastoid process.

100 skulls, 50 male and 50 female, were analyzed. The three craniometric points were marked to demarcate a triangle on the mastoid process. The area (mm²) of the mastoid triangle for each side of the skull was obtained, and the total value of these measures (T) was calculated.

The mean total area of mastoid triangle in males was 1393.88 ± 121.51 mm² and in females 1095.88 ± 90.11 mm². The analysis of the differences between males and females in right (R), left (L) and total areas (T) was statistically significant (p value < 0.001). The overlapping of the values for the total area between male and female skull was 14%.

The total areas show less overlapping of the values between the sexes and significant results were obtained in 3 studied areas R, L and T. Hence, this can be used for sexing human skulls. The values of the total area that were greater than or equal to 1360.48 mm² belonged to male skull and that were less than or equal to 1120.85 mm² belonged to female skull.