The Problem of the Sex of Certain Fossil Hominids, with Special Reference to the Neandertal Skeletons from Spy

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Abstract
This paper deals with the validity and degree of assurance of the sex determination of certain remains of palaeanthropic man. The author says that since a large amount of our experience is inevitably from modern material and our criteria are based on this, it is not possible to apply them to any great extent to palaeanthropic human remains for purposes of sexing. From the diversity of opinions found, and an additional study of some of the specimens listed, the sex of the Spy I, Spy II, Skhul IX, Galilee, Gibraltar I, La Quina H5, and Ehringsdorf III specimens cannot be said to have been satisfactorily established. The diversity of opinion in assigning sex, added to the evidence afforded to the findings of the last few years, points to a heterogeneity which goes beyond any accepted division into "early" and "classic" Neandertals. Since the relation between skulls and post-cranial bones from different sites of more or less contemporary deposits is still far from being elucidated, sexing one specimen on the evidence afforded by corresponding bones of another should be attempted only with great caution. Sexing palaeanthropic material on the basis of bones that do not correspond is inadvisable.

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