Alena Šefčáková

Technical Note: Geometric Morphometrics and Sexual Dimorphism of the Greater Sciatic Notch in Adults From Two Skeletal Collections: The Accuracy and Reliability of Sex Classification

The greater sciatic notch (GSN) is one of the most important and frequently used characteristics for determining the sex of skeletons, but objective assessment of this characteristic is not without its difficulties. We tested the robustness of GSN sex classification on the basis of geometric morphometrics (GM) and support vector machines (SVM), using two different population samples. Using photographs, the shape of the GSN in 229 samples from two assemblages (documented collections of a Euroamerican population from the Maxwell Museum, University of New Mexico, and a Hispanic population from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City) was segmented automatically and evaluated using six curve representations. The optimal dimensionality for each representation was determined by finding the best sex classification. The classification accuracy of the six curve representations in our study was similar but the highest and concurrently homologous cross-validated accuracy of 92% was achieved for a pooled sample using Fourier coefficient and Legendre polynomial methods. The success rate of our classification was influenced by the number of semilandmarks or coefficients and was only slightly affected by GSN marginal point positions. The intrapopulation variability of the female GSN shape was significantly lower compared with the male variability, possibly as a consequence of the intense selection pressure associated with reproduction. Males were misclassified more often than females. Our results show that by using a suitable GSN curve representation, a GM approach, and SVM analysis, it is possible to obtain a robust separation between the sexes that is stable for a multipopulation sample.

Variability of the Upper Palaeolithic skulls from Predmosti´ near Prerov (Czech Republic): Craniometric comparison with recent human standards

One of the largest skeletal series of the Upper Palaeolithic period from Predmostí was destroyed during the Second World War, but the study of this material continues up to the present. The discovery of Matiegkas original photographic documentation on glass plates [Velemínská et al., 2004. The use of recently re-discovered glass plate photo-documentation of those human fossil finds from Predmostí u Prerova destroyed during World War II. J. Nat. Mus. Nat. Hist. Ser. 173, 129-132] gives an opportunity to perform a new and detailed craniometric analysis of five adult skulls in their lateral projection. The craniometric data were analysed using specialised Craniometrics software, and the analysis included morphological and dimensional comparisons with current Central European norms. The aim of the study was not only to monitor the skull shape as a whole, but predominantly, to evaluate the size and shape of various parts of the splanchnocranium. The Upper Palaeolithic skulls are significantly longer, and male skulls are also higher than the current norms. The crania of anatomically modern humans are characterised by two general structural features: mid-lower facial retraction and neurocranial globularity. The height of the face of the Palaeolithic skulls corresponds to that of the current Central European population. The face has a markedly longer mandibular body (3-4 SD), while female mandibular rami are shorter. The skulls are further characterised by a smaller gonial angle, the increased steepness of the mandibular ramus, and the greater angle of the chin. These changes in the size and shape associated with anterior rotation of the face produce a strong protrusion of both jaws, but the sagittal inter-maxillary relationships remain unchanged. The observed facial morphology is similar to the Czech Upper Palaeolithic skulls from Dolní Vestonice. This study confirms the main diachronic changes between skulls of Upper Palaeolithic and present-day human populations.

A new Egyptian human mummified head in the Slovak National Museum, Bratislava

A mummified human head was recently anthropologically investigated and its provenance checked in the Anthropological Department, Slovak National Museum, Bratislava. The head is of a 35- to 45-year-old male. Its original provenance is unknown but both historical sources and the testimony of the first Hungarian Egyptologist Eduard Mahler suggest that the mummy head belongs to the Fifteenth Dynasty (Second Intermediate Period). However, the present study shows a mummification technique practised until the end of the New Kingdom, so the head could be later.

Virtual reconstruction of the Upper Palaeolithic skull from Zlatý Kůň, Czech Republic: Sex assessment and morphological affinity

The incomplete cranium discovered at the Zlatý kůň site in the Bohemian Karst is a rare piece of skeletal evidence of human presence in Central Europe during the Late Glacial period. The relative position of cranial fragments was restored and missing parts of the cranium were virtually reconstructed using mirroring and the Thin-plate splines algorithm. The reconstruction allowed us to collect principal cranial measurements, revise a previous unfounded sex assignment and explore the specimen’s morphological affinity. Visual assessment could not reliably provide a sexual diagnosis, as such methods have been developed on modern populations. Using a population-specific approach developed on cranial measurements collected from the literature on reliably sexed European Upper Palaeolithic specimens, linear discriminant analysis confirmed previous assignment to the female sex. However, caution is necessary with regard to the fact that it was assessed from the skull. The Zlatý kůň specimen clearly falls within the range of Upper Palaeolithic craniometric variation. Despite the shift in cranial variation that accompanied the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Zlatý kůň skull exhibits a morphological affinity with the pre-LGM population. Several interpretations are proposed with regard to the complex population processes that occurred after the LGM in Europe.

Grabungsvorberichte/Preliminary Excavation Reports: Egyptian Mission Rescue Excavations in Tell el-Retaba. Part 2: The Second Intermediate Period Cemetery

The present article about the first excavated part of an extensive cemetery of the Second Intermediate Period in Tell el-Retaba is one of the outcomes of the scientific co-operation between the Egyptian rescue excavation mission led by M. Nour el-Din and the joint Polish-Slovak archaeological mission in Tell el-Retaba. Seventeen mudbrick tombs dating to the mid – late 15th dynasty were unearthed during two campaigns in 2011– 2012. The tomb architecture and the grave goods found with the buried individuals which are presented in this article offer an insight into the burial customs of the inhabitants of Tell el-Retaba during the end of the Second Intermediate Period. Furthermore, they can help us to shed more light on the settlement history and material culture of this still somewhat controversial period of Egyptian history.