Population variation in sexual dimorphism in the human innominate

In the adult human innominate, pubis length and sciatic notch width are generally considered to offer the best prospect for reliable sex identification. Population variation in the extent of sexual dimorphism in these features was examined in two temporally distinct European skeletal collections of documented age and sex. (English and Dutch). A complex relationship was found to exist between pubis length and sciatic notch width with body size; these relationships differed both between the sexes and between the groups. Caution is therefore urged in the use of both metric and non-metric standards derived from one population and subsequently applied to other populations of differing origin.