ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 November 2003
Page Count: 5

Utility of Dorsal Pits and Pubic Tubercle Height in Parity Assessment
(Received 15 July 2003; accepted 10 July 2003)

Abstract

Parity indicators in human skeletal material are highly desirable yet elusive. In this study, the relationships of dorsal pits and pubic tubercle elongation to parity are investigated in a sample of 148 modern female sets of pubic bones with associated birth information. The elongation of the pubic tubercle shows no significant correlation with number of births, but instead is associated with the distance this feature is from the pubic symphysis (p < 0.01) and the size of the arcuate angle (p < 0.05). Dorsal pits show a strong association with increasing numbers of births (p < 0.01), especially in younger women. However, in women over 50 years old, dorsal pitting is correlated with BMI (p < 0.05) and is not significantly correlated with number of births. While this study lends support to the correlation of dorsal pitting and parity, it currently does not reach the level of accuracy needed for forensic applications at the level of the individual.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic anthropology, parity, dorsal pitting, pubic tubercle, body mass index (BMI)

Paper ID: JFS2003027
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2003027
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