Sex estimation from talus and calcaneus in a Southern Italian sample: application of discriminant functions to the documented skeletal collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology of Florence

This study evaluates the reliability of discriminant function equations for sex estimation based on measurements of the talus and calcaneus in a Southern Italian population. The analysis was conducted on a documented sample of 52 adult individuals (35 males, 17 females) from the Municipal Cemetery of Siracusa (Sicily), housed at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology of Florence. Osteometric data were collected from both sides of the talus and calcaneus. Published equations developed on Northern Italian and Korean populations were tested, and new population-specific discriminant function equations were developed for the sample under study. Both sets produced lower accuracy results compared to those obtained in their respective reference populations. The new equations developed for the Sicilian population yielded the highest classification accuracies (82-88%), outperforming previously published models. These findings emphasize the importance of developing population-specific models in forensic anthropology.