The value of the size of foramen magnum in sex determination.

Sex determination in unidentified skeletons is not always easily and correctly performed by a non-specialist without formal training in forensic anthropology. In explosions, warfare and other mass disasters like aircraft crashes, identification may be extremely complicated because of skeletal fragmentation. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the area of the foramen magnum was a useful criterion for the sex determination in fragmented skulls. In a total of 219 skeletons (170 males and 39 females) the longest and the shortest diameter of the foramen magnum was measured; the area within was determined using the mean of the diameters as the radius for calculation. The mean of foramen magnum area was significantly different (909.91 +/- 126.02 mm2 in males, 819.01 +/- 117.24 mm2 in females homogeneous variance, Student's t-test: 4.11 P< 0.001). However, the correlation coefficient between the areas of foramen magnum and sex was 0.27. The results confirmed that the mean foramen magnum area in females is lower than in males. However, the area of foramen magnum is not a very useful indicator for sex identification and can be used only under some circumstances as a supportive finding.