Sex determination in human burials from Los Tres Cerros 1 site (Upper Delta of the Paraná River, Entre Ríos) using quantitative methods

Abstract

In this contribution, we present the results of the application of discriminant functions to study long bones of human burials from the Los Tres Cerros 1 site (Upper Delta of the Paraná River, Entre Ríos). The collection is characterized by a large number of individuals of undetermined sex, due to the absence of diagnostic skeletal parts such as the pelvis and skull, which probably responds to the high number of secondary burials, and isolated skeletal remains. Therefore, we used this quantitative methodology to estimate the sex composition of this bioarchaeological collection.The discriminant functions used correspond to those considered by other researchers to analyze long bones from sites in the Lower Delta of the Paraná River. We analyzed 37 long bones, which correspond to a minimum number of 17 individuals. First, nine individuals with sex-diagnostic elements were included in the analysis to evaluate the prediction ability of the functions. Subsequently, discriminant functions were applied to eight individuals of undetermined sex. Results allowed us to specify the sexual composition of the burials of the site and showed a sexual differentiation in the burial modalities, and a higher representation of male burials.