ANTH 486 - Final Exam Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Sex Estimation - ✔✔-Sexual dimorphism present in adults only
-Most to least reliable: Pelvis, Long bones, Skull
-Variation is the rule
Activity affects features (more active = more muscle attachment sites)
What are the two approaches to sex estimation? - ✔✔Morphological (shape/form) and
Metric (measurement/dimension)
Sex Estimation: Phenice Traits (1969) - ✔✔3 features: Ventral Arc, Subpubic Concavity,
and Medial Aspect of the Ischiopubic Ramus
Females: VA present, Wide SPC, and sharp/narrow IR
Males: No VA present, Narrow SPC, and broad IR
- Revisited by Klales et al in 2012 (refined definitions and illustrations)
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,Other features that can indicate the individual is a female: - ✔✔Wide GSN, "raised"
auricular surface, marked pre-auricular surface, "dorsal pits" that may be linked to
childbirth
Sex Estimation: Walker Traits - ✔✔-Nuchal region, mastoid process, supraorbital
margin, supraorbital ridge, and mental eminence
-All scored 1 - 5 (feminine to masculine)
Common feminine features in the skull: - ✔✔"Childlike form", retain bossing and a high
vault (forehead), smaller mouth, pointed chin, more relaxed gonial angle (jaw line)
Common male features in the skull: - ✔✔Brow ridge, larger zygomatic bones, robust
ascending ramus, square chin, supramastoid crest
Compare Walker and Langley's methods: - ✔✔Walker: older, "world" population; less
reliable; 5 traits
Langley: developed using US individuals; higher classification rates; 3 traits (glabella,
zygomatic process extension, mastoid); Decision tree with associated probabilties
Chronological Aging - ✔✔Independent of natural factors
Biological Aging - ✔✔Dependent on natural factors like genetics, disease, diet, etc.
AKA: the affects of living on your skeleton
Age Estimation in Subadults - ✔✔*Development is predictable like a schedule
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, -dental development
-long bone growth and development
-maturation (epiphyseal closure)
Dental Development - ✔✔Deciduous(20) to Permanent (32) teeth
- Anterior teeth erupt sooner than posterior
Subadult Age Estimation: Shout and Massler 1941 - ✔✔Examined the whole arcade
- Used less than 50 white male and females samples of middle class status
- Middle class status means that the individual experienced fewer stresses
Subadult Age Estimation Ubelaker 1989 - ✔✔Used data from Shour and Massler
- added standard errors
- adjusted it so that it could be used on Native American populations, too
Subadult Age Estimation: Morrees, Fanning, and Hunt 1963 - ✔✔- Examined individual
tooth development (crown and root)
- Sample consisted of white males and females
Subadult Age Estimation: Harris and McKee 1990 - ✔✔-Expanded the Morrees,
Fanning, and Hunt sample to include black males and females
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Answers 100% Pass
Sex Estimation - ✔✔-Sexual dimorphism present in adults only
-Most to least reliable: Pelvis, Long bones, Skull
-Variation is the rule
Activity affects features (more active = more muscle attachment sites)
What are the two approaches to sex estimation? - ✔✔Morphological (shape/form) and
Metric (measurement/dimension)
Sex Estimation: Phenice Traits (1969) - ✔✔3 features: Ventral Arc, Subpubic Concavity,
and Medial Aspect of the Ischiopubic Ramus
Females: VA present, Wide SPC, and sharp/narrow IR
Males: No VA present, Narrow SPC, and broad IR
- Revisited by Klales et al in 2012 (refined definitions and illustrations)
100% Pass Guarantee Emilly Charlotte, All Rights Reserved © 2025 1
,Other features that can indicate the individual is a female: - ✔✔Wide GSN, "raised"
auricular surface, marked pre-auricular surface, "dorsal pits" that may be linked to
childbirth
Sex Estimation: Walker Traits - ✔✔-Nuchal region, mastoid process, supraorbital
margin, supraorbital ridge, and mental eminence
-All scored 1 - 5 (feminine to masculine)
Common feminine features in the skull: - ✔✔"Childlike form", retain bossing and a high
vault (forehead), smaller mouth, pointed chin, more relaxed gonial angle (jaw line)
Common male features in the skull: - ✔✔Brow ridge, larger zygomatic bones, robust
ascending ramus, square chin, supramastoid crest
Compare Walker and Langley's methods: - ✔✔Walker: older, "world" population; less
reliable; 5 traits
Langley: developed using US individuals; higher classification rates; 3 traits (glabella,
zygomatic process extension, mastoid); Decision tree with associated probabilties
Chronological Aging - ✔✔Independent of natural factors
Biological Aging - ✔✔Dependent on natural factors like genetics, disease, diet, etc.
AKA: the affects of living on your skeleton
Age Estimation in Subadults - ✔✔*Development is predictable like a schedule
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, -dental development
-long bone growth and development
-maturation (epiphyseal closure)
Dental Development - ✔✔Deciduous(20) to Permanent (32) teeth
- Anterior teeth erupt sooner than posterior
Subadult Age Estimation: Shout and Massler 1941 - ✔✔Examined the whole arcade
- Used less than 50 white male and females samples of middle class status
- Middle class status means that the individual experienced fewer stresses
Subadult Age Estimation Ubelaker 1989 - ✔✔Used data from Shour and Massler
- added standard errors
- adjusted it so that it could be used on Native American populations, too
Subadult Age Estimation: Morrees, Fanning, and Hunt 1963 - ✔✔- Examined individual
tooth development (crown and root)
- Sample consisted of white males and females
Subadult Age Estimation: Harris and McKee 1990 - ✔✔-Expanded the Morrees,
Fanning, and Hunt sample to include black males and females
100% Pass Guarantee Emilly Charlotte, All Rights Reserved © 2025 3
