Another museum question-would you know the difference between a male and a female skeleton.?

Question

If your intrigued by my questions...heres another one. In another visit at another time to the museum I stared at an saxon skeleton in a glass case and I mused for a few seconds and thought back to when the men went to war and the women stayed at home and they filed their nails to points to protect themselves. I snapped back to present time. In one hand it held a necklace of amber beads. The skeleton was in good condition and had all it's teeth...still looking at it I got the feeling of respect and pity. While digging a road to make it wider for modern traffic a burial ground was discovered. The museum experts wrote on the card...how it was found....where it found...the date and that it was probably a male....How ignorant they were. I had my doubts. Do you think it was a male or female skeleton.

Answer 1

Yes I will know the difference, absolutely! A medical student and a friend of mine had a skeleton and he explained it to me. A female skeleton had different hip bones. When a child is born certain hip bones kind of expand a tiny bit, just enough to let the baby come out. This looks like two small sealed cracks on each side of the pelvic bones which are sealed again after a birth. This sealed cracks are present and visible on the skeleton. I saw it with my own eyes. Each is about 3Cms long and look like a zig-zag spiky line..
I think that the Museum Expert did not know how to recognise the signs of a female skeleton, and he said "Probably a man" simply because he was a man himself and it was easy to say.
I would say that perhaps you should try to look at a real female skeleton first and go back to look at the other skeleton to evaluate. Good luck.

Answer 2

Very interesting ;
The amber beads could have been a status symbol
The pointy nails is anyone's guess.( red herring ?)
However ;
There are definite anatomical differences, between a male and female skeleton.

There is no room for guesswork there
it is a very useful guide in forensic science

The difference is most noticeable in the Pelvic girdle

Which differs markedly , between men and woman.

In a man, the pelvis is more massive and the iliac crests
are closer together.
In a woman, the pelvis is more delicate and the iliac crests are farther apart.
These differences, reflect the woman's role in pregnancy and delivery of children.
When a child is born, it must pass through its mother's pelvis.
If the opening is too small, a cesarean section may be necessary.

>^,,^<

Answer 3

Some people answered the hips, but that's not the only indicator, especially if the person never gave birth or was young.

You can also look at the jawbone. In males of all backgrounds, the back end of the jaw comes to a sharp angle. On women, even younger people, the bottom corner of the jaw is round.


Additional:

Why does it not surprise that at least one godbot displays his stupidity and ignorance in public?

Anyone with a functioning brain knows that men and women have the same number of ribs. What's less known but equally true is that men are altered women; in the womb during the first weeks, *all* fetuses are female, but the "Y" chromosome changes some to male.


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Answer 4

It's difficult to say without a doubt I think (especially if you only have partial remains) unless you can get DNA off it maybe? Usually there are good indicators but you could get a slightly built man or a tall woman. Like at Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found) there are arguments over whether there are female remains in certain parts of the cemetery, or if it is just for males. It can't be conclusively proven either way. In the olden days archaeologists usually just looked to see if the skeleton had 'female' items like beads or a mirror, or 'male' items like a sword, whether they were tall (male) or short (female), and would make their judgement based on that. Obviously that method has clear flaws.Was this skeleton you saw complete and intact?

Answer 5

Edward hello,

It just makes me angry really that when these people were buried their relatives or loved ones didn't expect some flippin archaeologist to come and dig them up hundreds of years later.. We wouldn't like to think of our relatives being dug up. Archaeologists do it in the name of science, but what about the people (real people) Just because it was a long time ago it doesn't mean we shouldn't respect their feelings and that of their relatives. I know this one was found in road construction, but how disrespectful to not re bury it.

By the way there is a difference in skeletons in the bone structure. Woman's hips, lilac crest and pubis are different. Have a look on a physiology and anatomy site.

Answer 6

The skeleton could have been royalty or a person high up in social standings, this may explain the teeth being intact and the jewlery.

Answer 7

The female skeleton will have a different shaped pelvis to a male.

Answer 8

skeletons reveal a lot. But the race and gender should be basically gimmes right of the bat. You shouldn't need much of an examination to determine that. Especially if there is a skull or pelvic bone involved.

Answer 9

I thought the rib cage and pelvic bones were a giveaway on a skeleton

Answer 10

No i wouldn't kno the differance between male n female skeletons, all i kno is that the pelvic bone is different on a a female!