Sex Identification from Cranial Capacity of Adult Human Skulls

Cranial capacity constitutes one of the most important characters for determining the racial differences. However, few studies exist that have evaluated the sexual dimorphism of cranial capacity and its significance in determining the sex of an individual. A craniometric study was conducted to differentiate sex from intracranial volumes of dry human skulls. The study was done on 160 dry human skulls (100 males and 60 females) in the department of forensic medicine, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal (M.P.), during the year 2005 – 2006. Skulls chosen for the present study were of adult age only. Dry, hard mustard seed of uniform size were used to fill the cranial cavity to determine the capacity. Mean cranial capacity of male skulls was found to be 1302.95 + 108.8 c.c. (range 1070 – 1560 c.c.), while in female skulls the mean cranial capacity was found 1179.92 + 97.08 c.c. (range 1000 – 1420 c.c.). A highly significant difference (p value <0.01) was observed between the intracranial volume of male and female skulls were compared. This data is expected to be of Clinical, Forensic, Anthropological and Genetic Importance