Let\u27s Talk about Sex: Testing Multiple Methods for Sex Estimation on Metacarpals and Metatarsals from Um-El Jamal, Northern Jordan.

Three methods for sex identification were tested on a sample of metacarpals and metatarsals excavated in 1996 from a commingled deposit in the Byzantine tomb,Umm El Jamal. The purpose of the research was to test both the ease of replicability as well as accuracy among the three methods and to refine the minimum number of individual\u27s data for the site. Methods tested included Scheuer & Elkington(1993),Case & Ross(2006),and Barrio(2006). Results showed 71% similarity across the three methods for metacarpals. Case & Ross had the easiest method to repeat, measuring only axial length on metacarpals and metatarsals,and based on that one measurement determining sex from tables previously created. Madden and Brashler\u27s research on Um-ElJamal previously determined the minimum number of adult individuals using all skeletal elements to be 7,this study suggests 4 based solely on the metacarpals which fits well with previous research. The MNI based on metatarsals parallels the previous MNI of 7