A Companion to Forensic Anthropology, First Edition. Edited by Dennis C. Dirkmaat. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2012 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. INTRODUCTION: EASY SEX? Sex is a priori the most incontrovertible component of the biological profile. First, unlike in the remaining components of the profile, the alternatives in a sex diagnosis are limited to two clear-cut options: male or female, without any continua or gray areas between them. Although humans simultaneously displaying masculine and fem- inine organs and secondary sexual traits do exist (see Kim et al. 2002 and references therein for a brief review of the subject), their frequency is too low to be relevant in forensic or paleontological settings (well, at least until we get one of those cases, which may be tomorrow morning). Hence, when attempting to determine the sex of our set of human remains, we should theoretically benefit from a certain freedom from some of the woes associated with other classification issues. For example, unlike in ancestry determination, we do not have to worry about “mixed” individuals or overlapping groups and subgroups, which may or may not be represented in our reference samples. Neither are there concerns regarding whether the sources are placing the victim into an objective bio- logical group, or just categorizing her based on a cultural construct without much basis in biology. Sex assessment also compares favorably with other seemingly equally objective components of the biological profile, such as stature or age. No worries about whether the person reported correctly the stature in her driving license, if she experienced a particularly dramatic growth spurt after getting her wheels, or stooped before the last Sexual Dimorphism: Interpreting Sex Markers Luis L. Cabo, Ciarán P. Brewster, and Juan Luengo Azpiazu CHAPTER 13 0001496510.INDD 248 0001496510.INDD 248 1/2/2012 8:34:24 PM 1/2/2012 8:34:24 PM UNCORRECTED PROOF