The articular surfaces of the hindfoot: sex assessment of prehistoric New Zealand Polynesian skeletal remains

Prehistoric Polynesian skeletal remains are frequently being recovered in New Zealand due to the increasing pace of urbanisation. Since such material must often be reinterred quickly, it is important that the sex of individuals be determined from the remains in a relatively short time. For this purpose, discriminant function analysis was utilised for sex determination of prehistoric adult New Zealand Polynesian tali (24 male and 27 females) and calcanei (26 males and 22 females). Two measurements of the trochlear articular surface of the talus and two measurements of the posterior talar articular surface of the calcaneus were taken and subjected to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) discriminant function analysis. For the single discriminant function derived, accuracy in sex determination was 92.3% and reduction in error over random assignment by sex was 85%.