Abstract
Objectives: Osteological methods for sex estimation are fundamental in biological anthropology, offering critical insights into the biological identity of skeletal remains. However, these methods are not infallible with factors such as age, population affinity, and skeletal preservation impacting their reliability. Recent advancements in peptide analysis present a promising avenue through which to address these limitations. In this study, we aimed to contrast chromosomal sex estimation using peptide analysis with osteological sex estimation results, and assess the impact of any differences.
Materials and methods: A skeletal sample derived from nineteenth-century colonial New Zealand cemeteries (n = 57) was sexed using both standard osteological methods and analysis of sex chromosome-linked isoforms of amelogenin.
Results: Peptide-based sex estimation both increased the number of individuals we were able to assign chromosomal sex to, and revealed six individuals for whom osteological and peptide-based techniques were not in agreement.
Discussion: In this paper, we discuss how peptide analysis of historic New Zealand cemetery samples has both changed our interpretations and added to our understanding of these populations. We show what can happen when osteobiographies are constructed for individuals for whom osteological sex estimation was potentially inaccurate. We also highlight the advantages of peptide analysis in identifying individuals, particularly non-adults for whom osteological sex estimation is not possible.