Cranial thickness in relation to age, gender and head circumference in Thai population
Keywords:
Cranial vault thickness, Forensic anthropology, Thai populationAbstract
Background: The skull is one of the most studied materials of the human bone. To date, several studies have investigated the range of cranial vault thickness variation in modern human.
Objective: To investigate the average thickness of cranial vaults in different positions and their relation to individual variables in the Thai population.
Methods: Cranial vaults of 118 male and 59 female cadavers aged over 20 years were eligible for the study. The measurement of the cranial vault was conducted as described: frontal cranial thickness (FCT), occipital cranial thickness (OCT), left and right lateral cranial thickness (LCT). The relationship between the cranial vault thickness and individual factors such as age, gender, height and weight, head and skull circumferences was studied.
Results: The average thickness of the female cranial vault was 7.438 mm in the FCT, 8.633 mm in the OCT, 6.355 mm in the right LCT, and 6.297 mm in the left LCT. The average thickness of the male cranial vault was 7.782 mm in the FCT, 9.354 mm in the OCT, 5.363 mm in the right LCT, and 5.459 mm in the left LCT. There was a statistically significant difference in cranial vault thickness between males and females. However, the result showed no correlation between cranial vault thickness and age as well as weight and height of the individual.
Conclusion: The cranial vault was not uniform structure and has wide variations in the thickness in different areas. The present study showed that cranial vault thickness could be used as an indicator for gendering human remains.
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